Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. Acquires 13,750 Shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Key Points

• Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. increased its holdings in The Progressive Corporation by 57.3%, acquiring an additional 13,750 shares, bringing its total to 37,730 shares valued at approximately $10.68 million.
• Vanguard Group, a leading institutional investor, raised its shares in Progressive by 1.2%, with total holdings now amounting to over 54 million shares valued at around $15.29 billion.
• Research analysts have given Progressive a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy", with a target price averaging $286.88, highlighting mixed performance in recent ratings by various analysts.

Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. raised its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 57.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,730 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 13,750 shares during the period. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $10,678,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $813,000 after buying an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $269,000. Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 11,040 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,645,000 after buying an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 11,414 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,735,000 after buying an additional 2,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 21,272 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $5,097,000 after buying an additional 1,261 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PGR. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Progressive from $288.00 to $281.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Evercore ISI cut Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $283.94.

Progressive Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of PGR traded down $2.13 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $242.75. The stock had a trading volume of 2,396,450 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,425,107. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $255.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $266.33. The Progressive Corporation has a twelve month low of $220.33 and a twelve month high of $292.99. The firm has a market cap of $142.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.45. The business had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.39 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 35.37% and a net margin of 12.66%. Progressive's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.48 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is presently 2.25%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 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 $552,814.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 47,942 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,949,064.08. The trade was a 4.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,660 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.12, for a total value of $7,423,399.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 506,945 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $122,741,523.40. This trade represents a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 104,250 shares of company stock valued at $26,332,348. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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.