State of Michigan Retirement System Has $38.10 Million Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

State of Michigan Retirement System lessened its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 158,988 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 500 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Progressive were worth $38,095,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 54.7% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,602 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $384,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Monument Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 13,762 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,298,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Washington Trust Bank lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 1,024 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Bank of America increased their price target on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. HSBC downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Raymond James raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.59.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR stock opened at $284.95 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $251.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $251.57. The stock has a market cap of $166.93 billion, a PE ratio of 19.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $187.32 and a 1 year high of $285.28.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. Equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total value of $952,416.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 39,040 shares in the company, valued at $9,645,222.40. This trade represents a 8.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 269,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,462,306.04. The trade was a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $14,102,075. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.