Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Cuts Holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lowered its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 13.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,005 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 2,543 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings in Progressive were worth $4,813,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Progressive by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,400,366 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $12,795,262,000 after purchasing an additional 583,376 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,615,430 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,498,363,000 after purchasing an additional 189,638 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,843,045,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Progressive by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,179,529 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,480,677,000 after buying an additional 710,684 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,451,602,000 after buying an additional 1,547,677 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE:PGR traded up $0.93 on Friday, hitting $261.26. The stock had a trading volume of 8,877,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,711,173. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $204.88 and a 52 week high of $292.99. The business's fifty day moving average is $275.34 and its 200 day moving average is $264.49. The company has a market cap of $153.15 billion, a PE ratio of 17.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.40.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 33.50%. The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.87 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on PGR shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of Progressive from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $312.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $288.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group increased their target price on Progressive from $285.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley set a $330.00 target price on Progressive and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $288.88.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.59, for a total transaction of $2,685,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 248,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at $66,616,766.16. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,490 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.67, for a total value of $691,398.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,429 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,451,160.43. This represents a 16.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,157 shares of company stock worth $9,352,400 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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.