Clearbridge Investments LLC Decreases Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Clearbridge Investments LLC reduced its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 914,838 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 6,739 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned approximately 0.16% of Progressive worth $219,204,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Progressive by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,400,366 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $12,795,262,000 after purchasing an additional 583,376 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted 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 purchasing an additional 315,411 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 13.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,652,235,000 after buying an additional 1,682,213 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,843,045,000. Finally, GQG Partners LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 67.6% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,171,501 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,239,143,000 after buying an additional 2,085,833 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of PGR stock opened at $279.13 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $265.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $255.91. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $201.34 and a 12-month high of $292.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $163.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.04, for a total transaction of $110,016.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,302,084.80. The trade was a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $2,681,299.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,255,231.44. The trade was a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,255 shares of company stock worth $14,490,871 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Raymond James upgraded Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $281.06.

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.