Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. Reduces Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. reduced its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 68.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,700 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 8,040 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $914,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Progressive by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,667,528 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $13,500,146,000 after purchasing an additional 151,240 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,513,188 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,128,055,000 after buying an additional 301,371 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Progressive by 32.8% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 10,972,574 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,928,141,000 after buying an additional 2,709,417 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,156,939,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Progressive by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,129,069 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,101,883,000 after buying an additional 42,909 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on PGR. Evercore set a $230.00 price target on Progressive in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $216.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Barclays upgraded shares of Progressive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $257.00 to $265.00 in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $244.71.

Progressive Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $203.52 on Tuesday. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $197.92 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The business’s 50 day moving average is $212.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $226.15. The firm has a market cap of $119.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.58, a PEG ratio of 8.92 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.08%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 3,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.35, for a total transaction of $634,506.75. Following the sale, the executive directly owned 26,249 shares in the company, valued at $5,363,983.15. This represents a 10.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,344 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.80, for a total transaction of $302,131.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 26,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,924,379.20. The trade was a 4.85% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,416,011. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Profile

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.