State of Alaska Department of Revenue Decreases Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue reduced its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 4.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 76,544 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 3,665 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Progressive were worth $15,830,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $1,078,831,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 14.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,554,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,002,542,000 after purchasing an additional 2,666,449 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 237.8% in the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,485,750 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $236,650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045,883 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the first quarter valued at $188,642,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted 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 valued at $129,237,000 after purchasing an additional 597,401 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at $1,494,976.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at $1,494,976.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 12,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.43, for a total transaction of $2,546,584.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 312,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,978,003.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,518 shares of company stock worth $7,159,674 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Down 0.4 %

PGR traded down $0.81 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $210.31. 1,284,908 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,580,534. The company has a market cap of $123.18 billion, a PE ratio of 21.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.35. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $209.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $194.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $111.41 and a one year high of $217.77.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The firm had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 11.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, June 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $243.00 to $254.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $216.81.

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.