Secure Asset Management LLC Buys 1,544 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Secure Asset Management LLC increased its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 34%, acquiring an additional 1,544 shares, bringing its total holdings to 6,090 shares worth approximately $1.625 million.
• In recent trading activity, Progressive's insiders have sold substantial amounts of stock, with 139,010 shares valued at $34.5 million sold in the last 90 days, indicating some level of insider selling.
• The company reported a 12.1% increase in quarterly revenue compared to last year, achieving earnings of $4.88 per share, which surpassed analysts' estimates by $0.45.

Secure Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 34.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,090 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,544 shares during the quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $1,625,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,022,956 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $15,289,037,000 after acquiring an additional 622,590 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 61.4% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 8,346,133 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,362,039,000 after purchasing an additional 3,174,632 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 15.2% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,263,157 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,338,556,000 after acquiring an additional 1,091,828 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 6.6% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 6,380,134 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,805,642,000 after acquiring an additional 396,567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Progressive in the first quarter worth about $1,473,180,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,232 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.96, for a total value of $1,557,750.72. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 21,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,402,135.52. This trade represents a 22.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.78, for a total transaction of $556,230.04. Following the sale, the insider owned 45,724 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,466,664.72. The trade was a 4.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 130,062 shares of company stock valued at $32,217,635. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PGR shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Progressive from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $280.00 to $268.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Evercore ISI cut shares of Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $287.00 to $281.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $279.44.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE:PGR traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $242.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,778,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,433,152. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $228.54 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $245.83 and a 200-day moving average of $263.34. The company has a market capitalization of $142.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.32.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.48 earnings per share. Progressive's revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

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.