Sargent Investment Group LLC Reduces Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Sargent Investment Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 110 shares during the period. Sargent Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $707,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PGR. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,683,807 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,263,763,000 after buying an additional 315,411 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,652,235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,682,213 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,518,615 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,669,204,000 after acquiring an additional 170,618 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,067,924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,286,036,000 after acquiring an additional 330,667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,205,266,000 after acquiring an additional 842,109 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total value of $2,386,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. This represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares in the company, valued at $964,042.20. This represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Down 0.3 %

PGR opened at $248.13 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $145.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.23, a PEG ratio of 0.63 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 12 month low of $179.90 and a 12 month high of $270.62. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $246.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $245.09.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on PGR shares. HSBC downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.71.

Progressive 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.