Great Lakes Advisors LLC Sells 51 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,500 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 51 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,797,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PGR. State Street Corp lifted its stake 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 worth $6,263,763,000 after acquiring an additional 315,411 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,652,235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,682,213 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,518,615 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,669,204,000 after acquiring an additional 170,618 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 7.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 330,667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $1,205,266,000 after acquiring an additional 842,109 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. The trade was a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $964,042.20. This represents a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 62,257 shares of company stock worth $15,752,781 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of PGR stock opened at $283.87 on Friday. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $201.34 and a 1-year high of $287.49. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $258.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $254.03. 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 company has a market cap of $166.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on PGR shares. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Raymond James upgraded Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $281.76.

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.