Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Sells 35,917 Shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Key Points

• Westfield Capital Management Co. LP reduced its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 4.8%, now holding $201.57 million worth of shares, making it the fund's 20th largest holding.
• Several large investors have significantly increased their holdings, with GAMMA Investing LLC raising its stake by 39,285% in Q1 and Capital Research Global Investors increasing theirs by 34.3% in Q4.
• Progressive recently reported quarterly earnings of $4.88 per share, exceeding expectations, and announced a dividend of $0.10 per share, yielding 15.0% for investors of record.

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP trimmed its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 4.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 712,249 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 35,917 shares during the period. Progressive makes up 1.0% of Westfield Capital Management Co. LP's portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP owned 0.12% of Progressive worth $201,574,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,179,529 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,480,677,000 after acquiring an additional 710,684 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Progressive by 34.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,451,602,000 after acquiring an additional 1,547,677 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,983,567 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,433,722,000 after purchasing an additional 915,643 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Progressive by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,521,545 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,323,018,000 after buying an additional 153,044 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,447,442 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,305,262,000 after acquiring an additional 337,146 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America dropped their price target on Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Progressive from $288.00 to $281.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $297.00 to $287.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Progressive from $290.00 to $268.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $286.88.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR stock traded up $1.18 during trading on Friday, hitting $246.49. The company had a trading volume of 2,113,544 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,255,157. The company has a market cap of $144.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $257.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $266.03. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $217.91 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 4th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 15.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is 2.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $552,814.32. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 47,942 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,949,064.08. This trade represents a 4.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 16,664 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $4,153,335.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 228,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,832,701.76. This trade represents a 6.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 104,250 shares of company stock valued at $26,332,348. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Progressive Profile

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.