Erste Asset Management GmbH Sells 139,354 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Erste Asset Management GmbH trimmed its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 18.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 632,246 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 139,354 shares during the quarter. Progressive makes up about 1.5% of Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Progressive were worth $154,543,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in Progressive by 46.0% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 294,418 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $72,707,000 after purchasing an additional 92,817 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.2% in the third quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 4,015,192 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $991,552,000 after purchasing an additional 84,656 shares in the last quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 1.0% during the third quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 406,889 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $100,471,000 after buying an additional 4,037 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 7.9% during the third quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,342 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,036,000 after buying an additional 1,196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in Progressive by 7.5% during the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 119,588 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,532,000 after buying an additional 8,313 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on PGR shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Progressive from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Evercore set a $230.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $216.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $226.00 to $218.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Progressive from $303.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $244.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,344 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 26,354 shares in the company, valued at $5,924,379.20. This trade represents a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Maribel Pumarejo sold 739 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total transaction of $150,201.75. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 9,103 shares of company stock valued at $1,883,924 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $211.60 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $124.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.00, a P/E/G ratio of 8.94 and a beta of 0.32. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $210.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $225.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $197.92 and a 1 year high of $292.99.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 2.08%.

Progressive Company 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.