The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) is Navellier & Associates Inc.'s 5th Largest Position

Navellier & Associates Inc. lowered its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 6.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 54,327 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 3,791 shares during the quarter. Progressive comprises 2.2% of Navellier & Associates Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Navellier & Associates Inc.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $15,329,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,843,045,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 39,285.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,046,037 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $862,059,000 after purchasing an additional 3,038,303 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Progressive by 34.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,451,602,000 after acquiring an additional 1,547,677 shares during the period. C WorldWide Group Holding A S increased its position in Progressive by 12,110.3% in the first quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S now owns 1,248,628 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $353,374,000 after buying an additional 1,238,402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,983,567 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,433,722,000 after purchasing an additional 915,643 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,490 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.67, for a total transaction of $691,398.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 12,429 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,451,160.43. The trade was a 16.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Stuart B. Burgdoerfer sold 3,681 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total transaction of $958,642.83. Following the sale, the director directly owned 12,217 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,181,673.31. This represents a 23.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 43,972 shares of company stock worth $11,764,581 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR traded up $2.84 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $250.22. 2,805,287 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,033,992. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $208.13 and a 52 week high of $292.99. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $264.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $265.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market cap of $146.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.37.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 4th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on PGR shares. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Progressive from $288.00 to $281.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Progressive from $290.00 to $268.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays cut their target price on Progressive from $297.00 to $287.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned 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 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.