Perpetual Ltd Cuts Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Perpetual Ltd lessened its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 346,477 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 37,000 shares during the quarter. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in Progressive were worth $83,019,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,683,807 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,263,763,000 after buying an additional 315,411 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,682,213 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 1.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,518,615 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,669,204,000 after acquiring an additional 170,618 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 7.0% during the 3rd 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 worth $1,286,036,000 after purchasing an additional 330,667 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,922,743 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,022,507,000 after purchasing an additional 92,212 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Progressive from $299.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, HSBC cut Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.24.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $2,194,878.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at $114,691,485.60. This trade represents a 1.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,938 shares of company stock worth $7,473,490 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR stock opened at $243.79 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $142.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $166.92 and a 52-week high of $270.62. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $250.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $242.71.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.91%.

Progressive 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.