Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 710,139 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 25.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,081,600 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 710,139 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.36% of Progressive worth $331,557,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Progressive by 14.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,554,503 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,002,542,000 after buying an additional 2,666,449 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 31.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,781,075 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $666,004,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154,591 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 102.9% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,131,601 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $296,932,000 after acquiring an additional 1,080,834 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Progressive by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,916,460 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $963,463,000 after purchasing an additional 655,706 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Progressive during the third quarter worth $88,528,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR traded up $3.53 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $211.78. 2,360,551 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,620,536. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $203.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $179.05. The company has a market cap of $124.04 billion, a PE ratio of 21.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.36. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $111.41 and a 1-year high of $216.21.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 8.89%. The firm had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. The company's revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 11.34 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. Progressive's payout ratio is 4.09%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total value of $1,603,843.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,342 shares in the company, valued at $6,128,485.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,139 shares of company stock valued at $7,458,139. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PGR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Progressive from $171.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Progressive from $232.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $174.00 price target for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Progressive from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $211.88.

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.