Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,064,928 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 304,509 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.86% of Progressive worth $1,213,608,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP grew its stake in Progressive by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP now owns 1,182 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $283,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $73,000. Monument Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 13,762 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,298,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 2,750 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $659,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 8,356 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,999,000 after acquiring an additional 1,043 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:PGR traded down $1.79 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $267.83. The company had a trading volume of 1,933,537 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,504,013. The company has a market capitalization of $156.90 billion, a PE ratio of 18.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $246.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $248.36. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $186.94 and a 52 week high of $270.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.15%. Progressive's payout ratio is 2.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total value of $2,386,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. The trade was a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $2,681,299.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. This represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Progressive from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $276.12.

About Progressive

The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, business related general liability, and other specialty property-casualty insurance products and related services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property.