New York State Common Retirement Fund Cuts Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 3.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 797,824 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 29,200 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Progressive were worth $202,456,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 66.4% in the first quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,814 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,409,000 after buying an additional 2,719 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in Progressive by 84.3% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 25,738 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,531,000 after purchasing an additional 11,770 shares in the last quarter. Councilmark Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Progressive during the first quarter worth $1,890,000. Sycomore Asset Management boosted its position in Progressive by 9.5% during the second quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 28,128 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,856,000 after purchasing an additional 2,450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. acquired a new stake in Progressive in the second quarter valued at $981,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 0.6 %

PGR traded up $1.35 during trading on Friday, hitting $244.18. 670,068 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,458,056. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $149.14 and a 1 year high of $260.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $250.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $226.41. The firm has a market cap of $143.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 3rd were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.91%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total transaction of $549,970.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,723 shares in the company, valued at $3,462,038.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total transaction of $549,970.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,723 shares in the company, valued at $3,462,038.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 9,512 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.50, for a total transaction of $2,259,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 45,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,874,412.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 74,843 shares of company stock worth $18,674,912. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on PGR. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. StockNews.com lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. HSBC raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $263.19.

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.