William Blair Investment Management LLC Sells 105,212 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management LLC significantly reduced its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 66%, selling 105,212 shares in the second quarter.
• Insider sales included transactions from John Jo Murphy and Steven Broz, totaling over $860,000 in stock sold, indicating a decrease in their positions.
• The company reported EPS of $4.45 for the last quarter, missing estimates, with revenue of $21.38 billion, reflecting a decline from the previous year's earnings.

William Blair Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 66.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 54,189 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 105,212 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $14,461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PGR. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Progressive by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,022,956 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $15,289,037,000 after purchasing an additional 622,590 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC raised its position in Progressive by 61.4% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 8,346,133 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,362,039,000 after purchasing an additional 3,174,632 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in Progressive by 15.2% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,263,157 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,338,556,000 after purchasing an additional 1,091,828 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in Progressive by 6.6% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 6,380,134 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,805,642,000 after purchasing an additional 396,567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth approximately $1,473,180,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $536,977.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 43,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,532,802.60. This represents a 4.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $325,624.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,356,934.80. The trade was a 4.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 128,778 shares of company stock worth $31,683,756 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Progressive Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $225.57 on Monday. The company's fifty day moving average is $243.73 and its 200-day moving average is $257.69. The stock has a market cap of $132.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.32. The Progressive Corporation has a twelve month low of $217.20 and a twelve month high of $292.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.04 by ($0.59). The company had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.64 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 33.88%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.58 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd were given 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 was Thursday, October 2nd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is presently 2.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PGR shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $350.00 to $351.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $252.00 to $247.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $266.00 to $246.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Barclays set a $271.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $312.00 to $301.38 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $274.46.

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.

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