Picton Mahoney Asset Management Sells 7,304 Shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Key Points

• Picton Mahoney Asset Management decreased its holdings in The Progressive Corporation by 6.1% in the first quarter, now owning 113,311 shares valued at approximately $32 million.
• Insider trading activity includes John Jo Murphy selling 4,000 shares for over $1 million, representing an 8.83% decrease in his position.
• Several research firms have lowered their price targets on Progressive, with a consensus target now at $286.88 and ratings showing a mixed view among analysts.

Picton Mahoney Asset Management lessened its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 6.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 113,311 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 7,304 shares during the quarter. Progressive makes up about 0.6% of Picton Mahoney Asset Management's holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Picton Mahoney Asset Management's holdings in Progressive were worth $32,069,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 114.0% during the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 210.0% in the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the first quarter worth about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target 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. Evercore ISI cut shares of Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $268.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $288.00 to $281.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Progressive from $280.00 to $268.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $286.88.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR traded down $0.93 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $241.11. The company had a trading volume of 1,370,123 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,272,904. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $260.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $266.01. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $208.13 and a 1-year high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.34. The company has a market capitalization of $141.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.37.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.39 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.48 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a yield of 15.0%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is currently 2.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,922 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $2,223,719.28. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 32,346 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,061,917.04. This represents a 21.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,660 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.12, for a total transaction of $7,423,399.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 506,945 shares of the company's stock, valued at $122,741,523.40. This trade represents a 5.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 104,250 shares of company stock valued at $26,332,348 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

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.