Councilmark Asset Management LLC Purchases Shares of 9,015 The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Councilmark Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 9,015 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,969,000. Progressive comprises 1.0% of Councilmark Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $935,172,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the second quarter valued at $310,764,000. EFG International AG acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the second quarter valued at $241,000. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,436,000. Finally, Delos Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 7,339 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.29, for a total transaction of $1,535,979.31. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 42,567 shares in the company, valued at $8,908,847.43. This represents a 14.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total value of $1,797,824.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 32,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,880,743.08. This trade represents a 20.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 83,449 shares of company stock worth $17,685,203. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR opened at $221.77 on Wednesday. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $189.20 and a 1 year high of $249.83. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $216.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $206.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.93 billion, a PE ratio of 11.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.64 by $1.03. The company had revenue of $23.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 32.92%. Progressive's revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.40 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.72 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $198.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Evercore set a $240.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday, July 10th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $308.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. William Blair restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $236.05.

About Progressive

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PGR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source