Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC reduced its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 62.1%, selling 2,000 shares and now holding 1,220 shares valued at $345,000.
• Progressive reported earnings of $4.88 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue reaching $20.08 billion for the quarter despite falling short of consensus estimates.
• Progressive declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.2%, with a payout ratio of 2.25%.

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 62.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,220 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 2,000 shares during the period. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $345,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PGR. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at $1,473,180,000. GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 61.4% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 8,346,133 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,362,039,000 after purchasing an additional 3,174,632 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 39,285.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,046,037 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $862,059,000 after purchasing an additional 3,038,303 shares in the last quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S lifted its holdings in Progressive by 12,110.3% during the first quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S now owns 1,248,628 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $353,374,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 18.1% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 915,643 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,922 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total value of $2,223,719.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 32,346 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,061,917.04. This trade represents a 21.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 16,664 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $4,153,335.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 228,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,832,701.76. The trade was a 6.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 108,351 shares of company stock valued at $27,003,746. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Progressive Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE PGR traded up $1.59 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $246.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,315,152 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,225,920. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $250.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $266.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $228.54 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.33.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The business had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.48 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Progressive to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $312.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $280.00 to $268.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $287.00 to $281.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $284.18.

About Progressive

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.