AQR Capital Management LLC Sells 602,655 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC has reduced its stake in The Progressive Corporation ($PGR) by 33.2%, owning approximately $341.25 million worth of shares following the sale of over 602,000 shares.
• Insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,232 shares at around $242.16 per share, resulting in an 18.29% decrease in his holdings, while CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,660 shares with a similar reduction in ownership.
• The Progressive Corporation reported a $4.88 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing expectations, and plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share on October 10th.

AQR Capital Management LLC decreased its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 33.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,213,724 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 602,655 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.21% of Progressive worth $341,251,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PGR. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,473,180,000. GQG Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 61.4% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 8,346,133 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,362,039,000 after purchasing an additional 3,174,632 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 39,285.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,046,037 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $862,059,000 after acquiring an additional 3,038,303 shares during the last quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S boosted its stake in Progressive by 12,110.3% in the first quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S now owns 1,248,628 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $353,374,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238,402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,983,567 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,433,722,000 after acquiring an additional 915,643 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of NYSE:PGR traded down $5.25 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $243.76. 1,690,776 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,637,555. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $228.54 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $247.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $265.56. The firm has a market cap of $142.90 billion, a PE ratio of 13.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.32.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The business had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.39 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.48 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 2nd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,659 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.06, for a total value of $7,543,953.54. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 476,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $117,194,933.16. The trade was a 6.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.78, for a total transaction of $337,299.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 31,733 shares in the company, valued at $7,958,001.74. The trade was a 4.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,010 shares of company stock valued at $34,547,699 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PGR. Evercore ISI cut shares of Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $287.00 to $281.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $268.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $284.18.

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.