Bailard Inc. Has $4.36 Million Holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Bailard Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 3.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,394 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 525 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $4,357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,843,045,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 39,285.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,046,037 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $862,059,000 after acquiring an additional 3,038,303 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,171,501 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,239,143,000 after acquiring an additional 2,085,833 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 34.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,451,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,547,677 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,983,567 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,433,722,000 after acquiring an additional 915,643 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.79, for a total value of $2,637,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 228,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,150,450.96. This trade represents a 4.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Stuart B. Burgdoerfer sold 3,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total value of $958,642.83. Following the sale, the director directly owned 12,217 shares in the company, valued at $3,181,673.31. The trade was a 23.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 42,705 shares of company stock valued at $11,450,948 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on PGR. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $291.00 to $280.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Progressive from $290.00 to $268.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $287.63.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $247.20 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $268.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $265.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.93, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.37. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $208.13 and a 52 week high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.34.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.45. The company had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.39 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 35.37% and a net margin of 12.66%. Progressive’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.48 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, July 4th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.70%.

About Progressive

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.