Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Has $29.04 Million Stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Key Points

• Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. significantly reduced its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 75.7%, selling 319,345 shares and now holding 102,617 shares valued at approximately $29 million.
• In contrast, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position dramatically by 39,285.0%, acquiring over 3 million shares, bringing their total holdings to around $862 million.
• The Progressive Corporation reported an EPS of $4.88 for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, and announced a $0.10 dividend with a 15% yield.

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. cut its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 75.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 102,617 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 319,345 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $29,042,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the first quarter valued at about $204,000. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP raised its position in Progressive by 136.1% in the first quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 31,566 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $8,934,000 after purchasing an additional 18,196 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC acquired a new position in Progressive in the first quarter worth about $2,162,000. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Progressive by 14.2% in the first quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,610 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,533,000 after purchasing an additional 697 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 170.8% during the first quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 4,190 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,186,000 after buying an additional 2,643 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PGR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $288.00 to $281.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $280.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $268.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $286.88.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 4,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.38, for a total transaction of $1,041,520.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,289 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,750,829.82. This trade represents a 8.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,922 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $2,223,719.28. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 32,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,061,917.04. This represents a 21.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 104,250 shares of company stock valued at $26,332,348. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Trading Up 1.1%

PGR stock traded up $2.57 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $244.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 332,339 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,258,553. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $212.27 and a 52 week high of $292.99. The stock has a market cap of $143.13 billion, a PE ratio of 13.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $259.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $266.32.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 4th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 15.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.25%.

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.