Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Reduces Stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Key Points

• The Maryland State Retirement & Pension System has reduced its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 13.5%, lowering its holdings to 27,336 shares worth approximately $7.7 million.
• Recent insider activity included Patrick K. Callahan and John Jo Murphy selling a total of 8,450 shares of Progressive stock, resulting in notable decreases in their ownership positions.
• Progressive reported earnings of $4.88 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations and reflecting a 12.1% increase in revenue year-over-year.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 13.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,336 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 4,267 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Progressive were worth $7,736,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Integrated Advisors Network LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 1.0% in the first quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 3,808 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 3.0% in the first quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,287 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Progressive by 2.0% in the first quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,940 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $549,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Financial Group lifted its stake in Progressive by 1.1% in the first quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 3,659 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,036,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 2.1% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $545,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,232 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.16, for a total transaction of $1,509,141.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 27,844 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,742,703.04. This represents a 18.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $552,814.32. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 47,942 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,949,064.08. This represents a 4.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 104,250 shares of company stock worth $26,332,348 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $280.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $280.00 to $268.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $286.88.

Progressive Trading Up 1.9%

NYSE PGR opened at $247.47 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $145.07 billion, a PE ratio of 13.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a fifty day moving average of $258.19 and a 200 day moving average of $266.02. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $213.47 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.29.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The business had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.48 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, July 4th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a yield of 15.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is currently 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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