Mcdonald Partners LLC Acquires 5,482 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Mcdonald Partners LLC increased its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 83.2% in Q4, buying 5,482 shares to hold 12,067 shares valued at about $2.75 million.
• Multiple large institutions also boosted positions—e.g., Capital International Investors now owns 13.7M shares and Capital Research Global Investors 11.17M—leaving institutional ownership at 85.34%.
• Progressive reported quarterly EPS of $4.80 (above estimates) with revenue of $22.19B (below expectations), paid a $0.10 quarterly dividend, and insiders have sold 6,933 shares (~$1.44M) in the past 90 days.

Mcdonald Partners LLC raised its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 83.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,067 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,482 shares during the quarter. Mcdonald Partners LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $2,748,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Capital International Investors raised its position in Progressive by 78.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,384,082,000 after purchasing an additional 6,045,732 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Progressive by 26.1% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,167,940 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,757,905,000 after purchasing an additional 2,314,864 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in Progressive by 2,012.0% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 767,549 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $189,546,000 after purchasing an additional 731,207 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 1,363.8% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 706,898 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $160,975,000 after buying an additional 658,607 shares during the period. Finally, Marshfield Associates boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 70.8% in the 3rd quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 1,577,453 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $389,552,000 after purchasing an additional 653,763 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,266 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.05, for a total transaction of $460,111.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive owned 26,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,330,062.50. This represents a 7.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Maribel Pumarejo sold 739 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total value of $150,201.75. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 6,933 shares of company stock worth $1,441,564 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR stock opened at $199.60 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $203.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $212.21. The stock has a market cap of $116.76 billion, a PE ratio of 10.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.58 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $192.02 and a 1 year high of $289.96.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The company's revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.37 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 2nd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is 2.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on PGR shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Progressive from $208.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Bank of America raised their price target on Progressive from $295.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Progressive from $215.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Barclays set a $247.00 price target on Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $238.39.

Progressive Company Profile

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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