Alyeska Investment Group L.P. Sells 109,327 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Alyeska Investment Group L.P. cut its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 46.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 125,358 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 109,327 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $30,037,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PGR. Alteri Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $848,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 181,723 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $43,543,000 after buying an additional 22,590 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 571,468 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $136,929,000 after buying an additional 44,348 shares in the last quarter. 140 Summer Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 26.1% in the fourth quarter. 140 Summer Partners LP now owns 405,746 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $97,221,000 after acquiring an additional 83,880 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Rock Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $358,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.94, for a total transaction of $2,799,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 269,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $75,462,306.04. The trade was a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.04, for a total value of $110,016.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,370 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,302,084.80. The trade was a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,894 shares of company stock worth $11,020,097 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Trading Up 1.0 %

PGR stock traded up $2.84 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $286.50. The company had a trading volume of 2,304,584 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,625,963. The stock has a market cap of $167.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.90, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $201.34 and a 52 week high of $292.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $275.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $259.80.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. As a group, equities 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 was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.14%. Progressive's payout ratio is presently 2.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Bank of America upgraded Progressive from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $312.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $324.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $287.65.

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.