Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Sells 36,221 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management cut its Progressive stake by 52.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 36,221 shares and ending with 33,237 shares valued at about $7.57 million.
• Progressive saw mixed insider and institutional activity: several large investors increased holdings, while insiders including Karen Bailo and Jonathan S. Bauer sold shares; institutional investors still own 85.34% of the stock.
• Analysts currently have a Hold consensus on Progressive, with a target price of $238.11, while the company recently beat EPS estimates with quarterly earnings of $4.80 per share.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. reduced its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 52.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,237 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 36,221 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $7,569,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PGR. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 78.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,384,082,000 after buying an additional 6,045,732 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings 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 worth $2,757,905,000 after purchasing an additional 2,314,864 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $189,546,000 after purchasing an additional 731,207 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in Progressive by 1,363.8% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 706,898 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $160,975,000 after purchasing an additional 658,607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshfield Associates increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Karen Bailo sold 3,517 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total transaction of $745,604.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares in the company, valued at $6,857,776. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,266 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.05, for a total value of $460,111.30. Following the transaction, the executive owned 26,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,330,062.50. This trade represents a 7.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 6,933 shares of company stock valued at $1,441,564 over the last three months. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Argus raised Progressive to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, February 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America lowered their target price on Progressive from $325.00 to $320.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $259.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $238.11.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $199.28 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $191.75 and a 1 year high of $289.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $116.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.28 and a beta of 0.31. The business has a 50-day moving average of $200.46 and a 200-day moving average of $210.22.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The company had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.51 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.37 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.03%.

Progressive 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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