Simplicity Wealth LLC Has $1.29 Million Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Simplicity Wealth LLC significantly increased its holdings in The Progressive Corporation by 153.9%, now owning approximately $1.29 million worth of stock after acquiring 2,935 additional shares.
• Insiders, including CEO Susan Patricia Griffith, sold significant amounts of shares recently, indicating a 5.70% decrease in their ownership percentages.
• The recent stock performance shows Progressive opened at $240.50 and has experienced a 2.1% decline, with a target price consensus of $279.63 from analysts.

Simplicity Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 153.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,842 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,935 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $1,292,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at $1,473,180,000. GQG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 61.4% in the first 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 during the last quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S boosted its holdings in Progressive by 12,110.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,238,402 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,263,157 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,338,556,000 after buying an additional 1,091,828 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the first quarter valued at approximately $194,557,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Progressive to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Progressive from $280.00 to $268.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $265.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $273.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Progressive from $343.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $279.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.18, for a total transaction of $2,017,201.34. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 39,040 shares in the company, valued at $9,767,027.20. This represents a 17.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,660 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.12, for a total transaction of $7,423,399.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 506,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $122,741,523.40. The trade was a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 130,045 shares of company stock worth $31,997,390 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Down 2.1%

PGR opened at $240.50 on Tuesday. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $228.54 and a 12 month high of $292.99. The company has a market cap of $140.98 billion, a PE ratio of 13.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.32. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $245.14 and a 200 day moving average of $260.43.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is 2.25%.

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.

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