Artemis Investment Management LLP Reduces Stock Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Artemis Investment Management LLP cut its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 42.5% in Q4, selling 24,509 shares and retaining 33,207 shares valued at about $7.56 million.
• Insiders have been selling, offloading 6,933 shares worth $1.44 million in the last 90 days (notably Maribel Pumarejo and Karen Bailo); company insiders now own 0.32% of the stock.
• Progressive beat quarterly EPS expectations ($4.80 vs. $4.67) but missed on revenue ($22.19B vs. $23.51B), and analysts maintain an average rating of Hold with a $238.39 average price target.

Artemis Investment Management LLP decreased its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 42.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,207 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 24,509 shares during the quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP's holdings in Progressive were worth $7,562,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Progressive by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,261,140 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $12,584,067,000 after purchasing an additional 593,612 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Progressive by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,808,762 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,373,474,000 after buying an additional 78,374 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Progressive by 78.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,384,082,000 after buying an additional 6,045,732 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Progressive by 26.1% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,167,940 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,757,905,000 after buying an additional 2,314,864 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Progressive by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,196,111 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,036,230,000 after buying an additional 197,603 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Maribel Pumarejo sold 739 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total value of $150,201.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 3,517 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total value of $745,604.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 32,348 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,857,776. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 6,933 shares of company stock worth $1,441,564. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR opened at $199.60 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $192.02 and a 52-week high of $289.96. The company has a 50 day moving average of $203.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $212.21. The company has a market cap of $116.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.15, a P/E/G ratio of 6.58 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The business had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.37 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $259.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, March 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $208.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $300.60 to $261.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $238.39.

Progressive Profile

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.

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