Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Increases Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,935,652 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 520,742 shares during the period. Progressive comprises about 0.8% of Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA's portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 2.55% of Progressive worth $2,378,951,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Progressive by 14.1% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 31.8% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 102.9% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,131,601 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $296,932,000 after acquiring an additional 1,080,834 shares in the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the third quarter worth $88,528,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 279.2% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 811,381 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $129,237,000 after acquiring an additional 597,401 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock traded up $2.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $215.76. 2,128,384 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,818,094. The company has a market cap of $126.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.34. The company's 50 day moving average is $206.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $181.82. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $111.41 and a 1 year high of $217.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. The business had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 8.89%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 11.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now owns 32,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,128,485.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now owns 32,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,128,485.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total value of $5,645,965.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 39,139 shares of company stock valued at $7,458,139. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target 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. lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $171.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $211.88.

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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