The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Stock Position Lessened by AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc reduced its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 5.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 225,293 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 12,957 shares during the quarter. Progressive accounts for approximately 0.9% of AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's holdings in Progressive were worth $63,783,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Unigestion Holding SA purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth about $14,987,000. McLean Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the first quarter valued at approximately $208,000. HBW Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 18.8% in the first quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,233 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 10.8% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 10,087 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,855,000 after purchasing an additional 987 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 36.1% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 581 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PGR shares. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Roth Mkm raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $288.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Progressive from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $312.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $288.59.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR traded down $2.37 during trading on Thursday, hitting $279.80. 2,520,647 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,997,629. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $276.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $264.11. The company has a market cap of $164.03 billion, a PE ratio of 19.43, a P/E/G 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 company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. The business 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%. On average, analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,267 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.81, for a total value of $351,985.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 28,888 shares in the company, valued at $8,025,375.28. The trade was a 4.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total value of $435,861.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 268,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at $75,759,663.84. This represents a 0.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 37,755 shares of company stock worth $10,367,074. 0.34% of the stock is currently 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.