Marathon Asset Management Ltd Trims Position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Marathon Asset Management Ltd decreased its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 9.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 167,794 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 18,476 shares during the quarter. Progressive comprises 1.5% of Marathon Asset Management Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Marathon Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Progressive were worth $47,488,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 114.0% during the 1st quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded Progressive from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $312.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Progressive from $285.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Progressive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $288.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,490 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.67, for a total value of $691,398.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,451,160.43. The trade was a 16.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 248,024 shares in the company, valued at $66,616,766.16. The trade was a 3.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,705 shares of company stock worth $8,813,048 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR traded up $2.23 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $263.85. The company had a trading volume of 12,464,473 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,762,402. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $207.48 and a 12-month high of $292.99. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $274.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $264.76. The stock has a market cap of $154.68 billion, a PE ratio of 17.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29.

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

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.