Blackstone Inc. Cuts Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Blackstone Inc. lessened its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 23.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 215,000 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 65,000 shares during the period. Blackstone Inc.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $51,516,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Progressive by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,400,366 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $12,795,262,000 after purchasing an additional 583,376 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,615,430 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,498,363,000 after buying an additional 189,638 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $1,843,045,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,179,529 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,480,677,000 after acquiring an additional 710,684 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 34.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,451,602,000 after acquiring an additional 1,547,677 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.94, for a total transaction of $2,799,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 269,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,462,306.04. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total transaction of $99,421.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,891.35. This represents a 35.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 39,894 shares of company stock valued at $11,020,097 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $282.11 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $165.38 billion, a PE ratio of 19.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $201.34 and a 12-month high of $292.99. The business's fifty day moving average price is $274.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $259.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.87 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.14%. Progressive's payout ratio is currently 2.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PGR. Barclays increased their price target on Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $320.00 to $324.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Progressive from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $287.41.

Progressive Company 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.

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