JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd trimmed its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 29.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 95,856 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 39,743 shares during the quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd's holdings in Progressive were worth $22,165,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,400,366 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $12,795,262,000 after buying an additional 583,376 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,615,430 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,498,363,000 after buying an additional 189,638 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,843,045,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 13.0% during 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 buying an additional 710,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 34.3% during 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 buying an additional 1,547,677 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Activity
In other Progressive news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 4,669 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.70, for a total value of $1,305,919.30. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,191 shares in the company, valued at $4,248,922.70. This represents a 23.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 trade represents a 3.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 39,894 shares of company stock worth $11,020,097. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America upgraded Progressive from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $312.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com upgraded Progressive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Progressive from $324.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $287.65.
Get Our Latest Analysis on PGR
Progressive Stock Performance
Shares of PGR stock traded down $4.26 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $278.33. 2,421,739 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,638,996. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $201.34 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $163.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $275.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $261.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.
Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is presently 2.70%.
Progressive Profile
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Free Report)
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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