The Progressive Corporation $PGR Position Trimmed by PB Investment Partners L.P.

Key Points

• PB Investment Partners L.P. reduced its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 2.7%, now holding 65,022 shares valued at $18.4 million, which represents 14.6% of its investment portfolio.
• Progressive's stock is currently rated as a "Moderate Buy" with a consensus price target of $284.06, though several analysts have issued mixed ratings and price adjustments recently.
• CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,660 shares valued at approximately $7.4 million, resulting in a 5.7% decrease in her ownership of the company’s stock.

PB Investment Partners L.P. cut its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 65,022 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 1,834 shares during the period. Progressive comprises about 14.6% of PB Investment Partners L.P.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. PB Investment Partners L.P.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $18,402,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its position in Progressive by 2.7% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 68,644 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $19,426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Progressive by 36.4% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 126,826 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $35,893,000 after purchasing an additional 33,864 shares in the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH lifted its position in Progressive by 498.5% during the first quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 5,057 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,431,000 after purchasing an additional 4,212 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the first quarter valued at about $3,141,000. Finally, TCW Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 4.5% in the first quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 12,034 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,406,000 after acquiring an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. Evercore ISI downgraded Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Citigroup started coverage on Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $312.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Progressive from $281.00 to $279.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Progressive to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Progressive from $275.00 to $265.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $284.06.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,660 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.12, for a total transaction of $7,423,399.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 506,945 shares of the company's stock, valued at $122,741,523.40. The trade was a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total value of $552,814.32. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 47,942 shares in the company, valued at $11,949,064.08. The trade was a 4.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 108,556 shares of company stock valued at $27,306,166 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Progressive Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of PGR stock opened at $248.9740 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $228.54 and a 12-month high of $292.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $251.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $266.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $145.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.33.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a return on equity of 35.37% and a net margin of 12.66%.The firm had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.48 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive's payout ratio is currently 2.25%.

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.

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