The Progressive Corporation $PGR Shares Sold by Brooklands Fund Management Ltd

Key Points

• Brooklands Fund Management nearly exited its position in Progressive, cutting its stake by 99.1% in the fourth quarter and ending with just 202 shares worth about $46,000.
• Progressive saw additional trading activity from insiders, with John Jo Murphy and Steven Broz both selling shares in June under pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans; insiders have sold 7,343 shares over the last 90 days.
• The company recently beat earnings expectations, reporting $4.80 EPS versus consensus of $4.67, while analysts currently rate the stock a Hold on average with a price target of about $238.11.

Brooklands Fund Management Ltd lowered its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 99.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 202 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 23,175 shares during the quarter. Brooklands Fund Management Ltd's holdings in Progressive were worth $46,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Dagco Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 106.6% in the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Roth Mkm set a $235.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $325.00 to $320.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Barclays set a $247.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Progressive from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $238.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,183,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 41,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,258,000. This trade represents a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $231,400.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 28,668 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,733,600. The trade was a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,343 shares of company stock worth $1,470,355. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $203.40 on Tuesday. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $189.20 and a 12 month high of $269.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.85 billion, a PE ratio of 10.34, a P/E/G ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.28. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $199.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $207.77.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The business had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.37 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.03%.

About Progressive

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.

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