New York State Common Retirement Fund Reduces Stock Holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 5.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 743,977 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 47,047 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.13% of Progressive worth $210,553,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 114.0% in the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in Progressive in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the first quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Progressive from $288.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen raised Progressive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 21st. Bank of America raised Progressive from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $312.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Progressive from $291.00 to $280.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $285.41.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR traded down $4.61 on Friday, hitting $244.77. 3,182,460 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,812,519. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $271.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $265.73. The firm has a market cap of $143.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.37. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $208.13 and a one year high of $292.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. The company 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 33.50% and a net margin of 11.10%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,490 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.67, for a total transaction of $691,398.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 12,429 shares in the company, valued at $3,451,160.43. This trade represents a 16.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Stuart B. Burgdoerfer sold 3,681 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total value of $958,642.83. Following the transaction, the director owned 12,217 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,181,673.31. This represents a 23.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 42,705 shares of company stock worth $11,450,948 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.