Perpetual Ltd Purchases 20,383 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Perpetual Ltd increased its holdings in The Progressive Corporation by 6.4% in the second quarter, now owning 341,030 shares valued at approximately $91.01 million.
• Insiders have sold a total of 130,062 shares worth $32.2 million in the last ninety days, indicating significant insider activity at Progressive.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for Progressive, with a consensus price target of $279.44 and six analysts recommending a buy, while twelve suggest holding.

Perpetual Ltd increased its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 341,030 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 20,383 shares during the period. Progressive makes up approximately 1.1% of Perpetual Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. Perpetual Ltd owned 0.06% of Progressive worth $91,007,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $813,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $269,000. Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its position in Progressive by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 11,040 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,645,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $615,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 103.7% in the 4th quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 5,232 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,254,000 after purchasing an additional 2,663 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The stock was 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 directly owned 39,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,767,027.20. This trade represents a 17.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,922 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total value of $2,223,719.28. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 32,346 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,061,917.04. This trade represents a 21.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 130,062 shares of company stock worth $32,217,635 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $242.26. 4,778,275 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,545,675. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.02 billion, a PE ratio of 14.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.32. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $228.54 and a 12 month high of $292.99. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $245.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $263.34.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive's payout ratio is presently 2.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on PGR shares. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Progressive to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $347.00 to $343.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $265.00 price objective (down previously from $327.00) on shares of Progressive in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI cut Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $279.44.

About Progressive

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.