Cerity Partners LLC Purchases 15,948 Shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 8.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 203,324 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 15,948 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $57,543,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,843,045,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 39,285.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,046,037 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $862,059,000 after acquiring an additional 3,038,303 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,171,501 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,239,143,000 after acquiring an additional 2,085,833 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 34.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,547,677 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 18.1% during the 4th 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 worth $1,433,722,000 after acquiring an additional 915,643 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR stock traded down $4.61 on Friday, hitting $244.77. 3,182,460 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,810,532. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $208.13 and a 12 month high of $292.99. The stock has a market cap of $143.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a 50 day moving average of $271.50 and a 200 day moving average of $265.58.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.50% and a net margin of 11.10%. The business had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. Barclays decreased their target price on Progressive from $297.00 to $287.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Progressive from $291.00 to $280.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America raised Progressive from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $312.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $285.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,267 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 transaction of $329,901.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 27,621 shares in the company, valued at $7,191,955.98. This represents a 4.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Stuart B. Burgdoerfer sold 3,681 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total value of $958,642.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 12,217 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,181,673.31. This represents a 23.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 42,705 shares of company stock worth $11,450,948 over the last quarter. 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.