Prospector Partners LLC Lowers Stake in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Prospector Partners LLC reduced its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 21.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 53,841 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 15,060 shares during the quarter. Progressive makes up about 1.6% of Prospector Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $13,296,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Progressive by 0.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,667,528 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $13,500,146,000 after acquiring an additional 151,240 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,513,188 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,128,055,000 after acquiring an additional 301,371 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of Progressive by 32.8% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 10,972,574 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,928,141,000 after purchasing an additional 2,709,417 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,156,939,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,129,069 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,101,883,000 after purchasing an additional 42,909 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PGR shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $240.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. William Blair lowered shares of Progressive from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $252.00 to $225.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group set a $226.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Mizuho set a $240.00 price objective on Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $250.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.29, for a total value of $307,050.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 27,698 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,323,176.42. The trade was a 4.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 3,105 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.35, for a total value of $634,506.75. Following the sale, the executive owned 26,249 shares in the company, valued at $5,363,983.15. The trade was a 10.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 12,443 shares of company stock worth $2,723,061 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $203.40 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $213.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $227.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.57, a PEG ratio of 7.28 and a beta of 0.32. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $197.92 and a 52 week high of $292.99.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.08%.

About Progressive

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.