The Progressive Corporation $PGR Shares Sold by Employees Retirement System of Texas

Key Points

• Employees Retirement System of Texas cut its stake in Progressive by 31.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 22,097 shares and ending with 47,920 shares worth about $10.9 million.
• Insider selling was also reported, including sales by Karen Bailo and Carl G. Joyce; insiders sold 3,928 shares worth $831,251 over the last quarter.
• Progressive reported strong quarterly earnings of $4.80 per share, beating estimates, while analysts currently have a consensus Hold rating with an average price target of $238.11.

Employees Retirement System of Texas reduced its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 31.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,920 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 22,097 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Progressive were worth $10,912,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Progressive by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,261,140 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $12,584,067,000 after purchasing an additional 593,612 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Progressive by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,808,762 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,373,474,000 after purchasing an additional 78,374 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in Progressive by 78.9% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,384,082,000 after purchasing an additional 6,045,732 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Progressive by 26.1% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,167,940 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,757,905,000 after purchasing an additional 2,314,864 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Progressive by 4.9% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,196,111 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,036,230,000 after purchasing an additional 197,603 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 3,517 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total transaction of $745,604.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares in the company, valued at $6,857,776. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total value of $55,755.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 558 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $115,227. This represents a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 3,928 shares of company stock worth $831,251 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on PGR shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Friday. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $259.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, March 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $218.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $218.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $325.00 to $320.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $238.11.

Progressive Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $199.05 on Wednesday. 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 $116.31 billion, a PE ratio of 10.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.30 and a beta of 0.31. The firm's 50-day moving average is $200.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $210.12. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $191.75 and a 1 year high of $289.96.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.37 earnings per share. Analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.36 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Progressive Profile

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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