Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. Lowers Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. reduced its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 36,132 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,187 shares during the period. Progressive accounts for about 2.1% of Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $8,658,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings 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 increased its position in Progressive by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,652,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682,213 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 1.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,518,615 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,669,204,000 after buying an additional 170,618 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 7.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,067,924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,286,036,000 after buying an additional 330,667 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 21.6% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,205,266,000 after buying an additional 842,109 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total value of $952,416.30. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 39,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,645,222.40. This trade represents a 8.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,530,756.28. This represents a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE:PGR opened at $265.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $155.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $186.94 and a one year high of $270.79. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $246.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $248.87.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (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%. Sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on PGR. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $276.12.

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.