Optas LLC Purchases 143 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Optas LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,254 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the quarter. Progressive accounts for about 0.6% of Optas LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Optas LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,338,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,751,851 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,703,318,000 after buying an additional 285,070 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Progressive by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 14,935,652 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,378,951,000 after acquiring an additional 520,742 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,078,831,000. Capital International Investors increased its position in Progressive by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,925,019 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,018,592,000 after buying an additional 670,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 4,885,731 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $778,199,000 after purchasing an additional 19,724 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 3,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.81, for a total transaction of $639,920.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,453 shares in the company, valued at $6,808,963.93. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Progressive news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 9,512 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 45,787 shares in the company, valued at $10,874,412.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 3,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.81, for a total transaction of $639,920.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,808,963.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 116,441 shares of company stock worth $25,111,350. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR traded up $1.03 on Friday, reaching $241.25. The company had a trading volume of 1,544,660 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,539,333. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $130.27 and a 1 year high of $241.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.30 billion, a PE ratio of 24.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $217.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $208.37.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.54 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 33.01%. Progressive’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.57 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 12.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PGR. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Progressive from $262.00 to $281.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Progressive from $256.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Progressive from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Progressive from $235.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.41.

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.