Arizona State Retirement System Raises Stock Position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 171,919 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,328 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in Progressive were worth $48,655,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,843,045,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 39,285.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,046,037 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $862,059,000 after purchasing an additional 3,038,303 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 67.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,085,833 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted 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 worth $1,451,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,547,677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 18.1% during 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 buying an additional 915,643 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of Progressive stock traded down $4.61 on Friday, hitting $244.77. 3,182,460 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,810,532. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a market cap of $143.49 billion, a PE ratio of 16.51, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.37. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $271.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $265.58. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $208.13 and a 52 week high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.50% and a net margin of 11.10%. Equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 4th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. Progressive's payout ratio is 2.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PGR. 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 research report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Progressive from $288.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Morgan Stanley cut Progressive from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $297.00 to $287.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $285.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.38, for a total value of $1,041,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 41,289 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,750,829.82. This represents a 8.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,490 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.67, for a total transaction of $691,398.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 12,429 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,451,160.43. This trade represents a 16.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 42,705 shares of company stock worth $11,450,948. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Progressive

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.