E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB Has $60.51 Million Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB cut its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 4.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 213,799 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 8,841 shares during the period. Progressive comprises approximately 1.6% of E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB's holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB's holdings in Progressive were worth $60,507,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC grew its position in Progressive by 24.5% during the 1st quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 14,796 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $4,187,000 after acquiring an additional 2,907 shares during the last quarter. Foster Group Inc. bought a new position in Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at $213,000. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 44.3% in the 1st quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 18,458 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $5,224,000 after buying an additional 5,668 shares during the last quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC now owns 34,185 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $9,675,000 after buying an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its position in Progressive by 107.7% in the 1st quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 6,105 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,728,000 after buying an additional 3,165 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total value of $99,421.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 655 shares of the company's stock, valued at $180,891.35. This trade represents a 35.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.59, for a total value of $2,685,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 248,024 shares in the company, valued at $66,616,766.16. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 37,755 shares of company stock valued at $10,367,074. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on PGR. Bank of America upgraded Progressive from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $312.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $288.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Progressive from $285.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $288.59.

Progressive Trading Down 0.4%

Progressive stock traded down $1.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $279.19. 2,442,200 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,654,031. The firm has a market capitalization of $163.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.39, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $201.34 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $276.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $264.44.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's payout ratio is presently 2.70%.

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.