Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Buys 1,146 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• The Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its holdings in The Progressive Corporation by 4.2%, acquiring an additional 1,146 shares, valuing its total stake at $7,601,000.
• CEO Susan Patricia Griffith recently sold 30,659 shares of the company, a transaction worth over $7.5 million, reducing her ownership by 6.05%.
• Progressive's stock has seen fluctuating price targets from analysts, with Bank of America increasing its target to $350.00 and a mixed average rating of "Hold" among analysts.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,482 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,146 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Progressive were worth $7,601,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 114.0% in the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 210.0% in the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in Progressive in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Progressive in the first quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new stake in Progressive in the first quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, September 21st. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Progressive in a report on Monday, September 15th. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Bank of America lifted their target price on Progressive from $343.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Progressive from $265.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays set a $271.00 target price on Progressive in a report on Wednesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $278.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,659 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.06, for a total value of $7,543,953.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 476,286 shares in the company, valued at $117,194,933.16. The trade was a 6.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.18, for a total value of $2,017,201.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 39,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,767,027.20. This trade represents a 17.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 130,045 shares of company stock valued at $31,997,390. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of PGR stock opened at $243.07 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $245.21 and a 200 day moving average of $260.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market cap of $142.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.32. The Progressive Corporation has a twelve month low of $228.54 and a twelve month high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.45. The company had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 period last year, the business earned $2.48 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive's 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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