Primecap Management Co. CA Sells 38,750 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Primecap Management Co. CA reduced its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,382,330 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 38,750 shares during the quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA’s holdings in Progressive were worth $331,220,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 54.7% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,602 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $384,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Monument Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 13,762 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,298,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Kelleher Financial Advisors now owns 995 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $238,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Progressive from $333.00 to $318.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Hsbc Global Res cut Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group upped their price target on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, 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 note on Thursday, December 26th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $281.76.

Progressive Stock Up 2.8 %

NYSE PGR opened at $291.69 on Tuesday. 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 $170.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $201.34 and a one year high of $292.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $259.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $254.36.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 2.78%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 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 $2,194,878.60. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 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 $46,241.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $964,042.20. The trade was a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 62,257 shares of company stock worth $15,752,781. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.