New York State Common Retirement Fund Cuts Stock Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 791,024 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 6,800 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Progressive were worth $189,537,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PGR. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Progressive by 1.3% during the 3rd 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% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,652,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682,213 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,518,615 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,669,204,000 after purchasing an additional 170,618 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 7.0% in 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 during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,205,266,000 after purchasing an additional 842,109 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at $67,530,756.28. This represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $964,042.20. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR opened at $263.59 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $154.41 billion, a PE ratio of 18.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The business’s 50-day moving average is $245.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $248.21. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $186.94 and a 1 year high of $270.62.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. Research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.78%.

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.