Fayez Sarofim & Co Sells 99,391 Shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Key Points

• Fayez Sarofim & Co reduced its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 4.4%, selling 99,391 shares in the first quarter, and now holds approximately 2.14 million shares valued at around $605.87 million.
• In the first quarter, several institutional investors, including Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management and Y.D. More Investments Ltd, increased their positions in Progressive, highlighting ongoing interest in the stock.
• Despite the changes in ownership, Progressive's stock remains rated as a "Moderate Buy" by analysts, with a current average price target of $286.88.

Fayez Sarofim & Co cut its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 4.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,140,790 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 99,391 shares during the quarter. Progressive accounts for about 1.5% of Fayez Sarofim & Co's portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Fayez Sarofim & Co owned about 0.37% of Progressive worth $605,865,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PGR. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Progressive by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,045,618 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $295,920,000 after buying an additional 112,176 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its stake in Progressive by 41.1% in the first quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 1,010 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its position in Progressive by 7.8% during the first quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,586 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $454,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Progressive by 3.4% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,086,160 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,156,424,000 after buying an additional 134,261 shares during the period. Finally, ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter worth approximately $20,852,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.38, for a total transaction of $1,041,520.00. Following the transaction, 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 through this link. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,922 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total value of $2,223,719.28. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 32,346 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,061,917.04. This represents a 21.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 104,250 shares of company stock worth $26,332,348. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on PGR shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Progressive from $288.00 to $281.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Progressive from $290.00 to $268.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $286.88.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $247.47 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $145.07 billion, a PE ratio of 13.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.33. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $213.47 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.31. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $258.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $266.02.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released 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 net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The business had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.48 earnings per share. Progressive's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 4th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 15.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is 2.25%.

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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