Teacher Retirement System of Texas Sells 143,226 Shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lowered its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 40.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 208,281 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 143,226 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Progressive were worth $58,946,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Progressive by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $813,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at $269,000. Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its stake in Progressive by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 11,040 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,645,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,864 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,124,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Progressive by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 858 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Progressive stock traded up $2.50 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $260.30. The company had a trading volume of 2,685,585 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,775,782. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $207.50 and a 52 week high of $292.99. The company has a 50 day moving average of $274.48 and a 200-day moving average of $265.11. The firm has a market cap of $152.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.55, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.37.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 33.50%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a yield of 0.15%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is currently 2.70%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.79, for a total transaction of $2,637,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 228,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at $60,150,450.96. This represents a 4.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.67, for a total value of $691,398.30. Following the transaction, the director owned 12,429 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,451,160.43. This trade represents a 16.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 42,705 shares of company stock worth $11,450,948. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on PGR. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Progressive from $285.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Progressive from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $312.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $288.88.

Progressive Company 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.