Man Group plc Sells 112,249 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Man Group plc lowered its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 18.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 486,322 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 112,249 shares during the period. Man Group plc owned approximately 0.08% of Progressive worth $116,528,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC grew its position in Progressive by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $885,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Progressive by 54.7% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Bank grew its position in Progressive by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 1,066 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp grew its position in Progressive by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,602 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $384,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Monument Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 13,762 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,298,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Progressive from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $287.65.

Progressive Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE PGR traded up $4.78 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $285.93. 2,779,536 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,641,525. The company has a market cap of $167.62 billion, a PE ratio of 19.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $201.34 and a one year high of $292.99. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $275.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $261.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,891.35. This represents a 35.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.94, for a total value of $2,799,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 269,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at $75,462,306.04. This trade represents a 3.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,894 shares of company stock worth $11,020,097. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Progressive

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.