C WorldWide Group Holding A S Buys 1,238,402 Shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

C WorldWide Group Holding A S increased its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 12,110.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,248,628 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,238,402 shares during the quarter. Progressive comprises 4.4% of C WorldWide Group Holding A S's holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. C WorldWide Group Holding A S owned about 0.21% of Progressive worth $353,374,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 114.0% in the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 210.0% during the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PGR. Wall Street Zen raised Progressive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Evercore ISI lowered Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday. Barclays dropped their price target on Progressive from $297.00 to $287.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Progressive from $291.00 to $280.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $287.63.

Progressive Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of PGR traded up $0.51 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $247.78. 372,572 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,831,534. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $208.13 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $145.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.95, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.37. The business's 50-day moving average price is $268.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $265.68.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.38, for a total value of $1,041,520.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 41,289 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,750,829.82. This represents a 8.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,490 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.67, for a total value of $691,398.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 12,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,451,160.43. The trade was a 16.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 42,705 shares of company stock valued at $11,450,948 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company 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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