Waverly Advisors LLC Purchases 31,897 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Waverly Advisors nearly doubled its Progressive stake in the first quarter, purchasing 31,897 additional shares to hold 63,934 shares valued at approximately $12.7 million.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of Progressive’s stock, with Vanguard, State Street, Capital International Investors and GQG Partners among the largest holders.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious, with an overall “Hold” rating and a consensus price target of $236.11. Progressive also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, while insiders sold shares worth roughly $3.17 million over the past 90 days.

Waverly Advisors LLC raised its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 99.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 63,934 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 31,897 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $12,674,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,261,140 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $12,584,067,000 after purchasing an additional 593,612 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,808,762 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $6,373,474,000 after purchasing an additional 78,374 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,921,724 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,398,123,000 after buying an additional 1,217,527 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,432,549 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,375,706,000 after buying an additional 1,092,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,836,094,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on PGR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Progressive from $231.00 to $226.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Progressive from $205.00 to $198.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Progressive from $217.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Progressive from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, HSBC increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $214.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $236.11.

Progressive Trading Up 0.0%

PGR stock opened at $213.85 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $209.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $205.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $189.20 and a fifty-two week high of $254.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.26.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive's payout ratio is currently 2.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.76, for a total transaction of $236,907.32. Following the sale, the insider owned 27,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,633,152.36. This represents a 4.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,183,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,290 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,258,000. This represents a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 15,230 shares of company stock worth $3,165,817 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

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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