CoreCap Advisors LLC Decreases Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

CoreCap Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 77.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,081 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 3,626 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $259,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,843,045,000. GQG Partners LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 67.6% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,171,501 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,239,143,000 after buying an additional 2,085,833 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $408,416,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Progressive by 34.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,547,677 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Progressive by 13.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 710,684 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $324.00 to $328.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Progressive from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $312.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $287.65.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $284.33 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $166.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The firm's fifty day moving average is $275.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $260.46. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $201.34 and a 52-week high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.87 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 2.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 4,669 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.70, for a total transaction of $1,305,919.30. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,191 shares in the company, valued at $4,248,922.70. The trade was a 23.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,894 shares of company stock worth $11,020,097 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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