Diamant Asset Management Inc. Acquires 4,048,351 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Diamant Asset Management dramatically increased its stake in Progressive, adding 4,048,351 shares and lifting its holdings to 4,068,876 shares worth about $806.6 million. The position now makes up 2.7% of the fund’s portfolio and about 0.70% of Progressive.
• Insider selling was reported in recent weeks, including sales by John Jo Murphy and Director Jeffrey D. Kelly. Over the last three months, insiders sold 15,230 shares total, though insiders still own just 0.32% of the company.
• Progressive recently beat earnings expectations with quarterly EPS of $4.80 versus the $4.67 consensus, while revenue rose 6.5% year over year. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, payable July 10.

Diamant Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 19,724.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,068,876 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,048,351 shares during the quarter. Progressive comprises 2.7% of Diamant Asset Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Diamant Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.70% of Progressive worth $806,614,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kenora Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 8.8% during the first quarter. Kenora Financial LLC now owns 5,319 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,054,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares during the period. MRA Advisory Group increased its holdings in Progressive by 6.5% in the first quarter. MRA Advisory Group now owns 1,697 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 399.4% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,033 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,252,000 after buying an additional 4,825 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in Progressive by 3.1% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 347,477 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $68,885,000 after buying an additional 10,605 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Towne Trust Company N.A boosted its holdings in Progressive by 38.8% during the first quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 3,748 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $743,000 after buying an additional 1,048 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,183,200.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 41,290 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,258,000. This trade represents a 12.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.33, for a total value of $1,514,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 22,546 shares in the company, valued at $4,877,376.18. The trade was a 23.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 15,230 shares of company stock worth $3,165,817. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $222.00 to $219.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $208.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $237.58.

Progressive Trading Up 4.0%

PGR opened at $224.11 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $130.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.39, a P/E/G ratio of 6.81 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $189.20 and a 12 month high of $267.92. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $201.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $206.89.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The firm had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $23.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.37 EPS. The company's revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.03%.

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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