The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) Position Cut by West Family Investments Inc.

West Family Investments Inc. lessened its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 47.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,727 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 1,557 shares during the quarter. West Family Investments Inc.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $489,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $1,843,045,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 39,285.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,046,037 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $862,059,000 after acquiring an additional 3,038,303 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,171,501 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,239,143,000 after acquiring an additional 2,085,833 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 34.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,451,602,000 after acquiring an additional 1,547,677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,983,567 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,433,722,000 after acquiring an additional 915,643 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,490 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.67, for a total value of $691,398.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 12,429 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,451,160.43. This represents a 16.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.37, for a total value of $2,753,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 238,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,544,668.88. This trade represents a 4.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 42,705 shares of company stock worth $11,450,948. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on PGR shares. Bank of America upgraded Progressive from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $312.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Barclays cut their price objective on Progressive from $297.00 to $287.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Progressive from $290.00 to $280.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $284.82.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR traded up $4.13 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $246.33. 6,060,154 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,840,740. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.61, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.37. The business's fifty day moving average is $269.17 and its 200-day moving average is $265.63. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $208.13 and a one year high of $292.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 4th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.