Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Trims Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI reduced its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 61.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 220,383 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 355,567 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI's holdings in Progressive were worth $52,806,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,843,045,000. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in Progressive by 67.6% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,171,501 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,239,143,000 after acquiring an additional 2,085,833 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $408,416,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Progressive by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,179,529 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,480,677,000 after acquiring an additional 710,684 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on PGR. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Progressive from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $288.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America raised Progressive from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $312.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Progressive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $288.24.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.94, for a total value of $2,799,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 269,566 shares in the company, valued at $75,462,306.04. This represents a 3.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total transaction of $99,421.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 655 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $180,891.35. This represents a 35.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,894 shares of company stock valued at $11,020,097. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $288.11 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $275.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $262.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $168.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $201.34 and a 52-week high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. Research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is currently 2.70%.

Progressive Company 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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