Madison Asset Management LLC Sells 17,401 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Madison Asset Management trimmed its Progressive stake by 4.7% in the first quarter, selling 17,401 shares and leaving it with 349,774 shares worth about $69.3 million.
• Insider selling continued, with executives John Jo Murphy and Steven Broz both selling shares in pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans; insiders have sold 15,230 shares over the last three months.
• Progressive shares rose 2.0% to $212.09, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with an average price target of $235.05.

Madison Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 4.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 349,774 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 17,401 shares during the quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC owned about 0.06% of Progressive worth $69,339,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,261,140 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $12,584,067,000 after acquiring an additional 593,612 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Progressive by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,808,762 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,373,474,000 after acquiring an additional 78,374 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Progressive by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,921,724 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,398,123,000 after acquiring an additional 1,217,527 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC raised its position in Progressive by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,432,549 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,375,706,000 after purchasing an additional 1,092,151 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,836,094,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,183,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,290 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,258,000. This trade represents a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.76, for a total value of $236,907.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 27,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,633,152.36. The trade was a 4.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 15,230 shares of company stock worth $3,165,817 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Progressive Trading Up 2.0%

NYSE PGR opened at $212.09 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $123.93 billion, a PE ratio of 10.64, a PEG ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 0.26. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $189.20 and a 12 month high of $254.93. The company's 50-day moving average price is $209.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $206.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is currently 2.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Progressive from $231.00 to $226.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price target on Progressive in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Progressive from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $235.05.

About Progressive

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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