Tweedy Browne Co LLC Sells 6,305 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Tweedy Browne Co LLC cut its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 30.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,586 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 6,305 shares during the quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $3,495,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,400,366 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $12,795,262,000 after purchasing an additional 583,376 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,683,807 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,263,763,000 after buying an additional 315,411 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Progressive by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,615,430 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,498,363,000 after buying an additional 189,638 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at $1,843,045,000. Finally, GQG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,171,501 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,239,143,000 after acquiring an additional 2,085,833 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE PGR traded up $5.55 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $286.78. 3,830,895 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,596,582. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $201.34 and a 52 week high of $292.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business's fifty day moving average price is $267.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $256.52.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. Equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $2,681,299.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. The trade was a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,612 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,137,465.20. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,255 shares of company stock valued at $17,250,271 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on PGR shares. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Progressive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $281.06.

Progressive Company Profile

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.