Primecap Management Co. CA Sells 24,460 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Primecap Management Co. CA decreased its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,432,280 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 24,460 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA’s holdings in Progressive were worth $297,499,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. WR Wealth Planners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 119.6% during the second quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 123 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO acquired a new position in Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Sachetta LLC bought a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Northwest Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Finally, Hilltop National Bank grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 126.0% in the second quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 165 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on PGR. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Progressive from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Progressive from $210.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Progressive from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $256.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 3,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 32,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,808,963.93. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 3,050 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on 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 owns 32,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,808,963.93. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.20, for a total transaction of $10,937,914.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $119,475,967. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 146,704 shares of company stock valued at $33,367,408 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $256.31 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.23, a PEG ratio of 0.82 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. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $230.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $215.53. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $137.59 and a 12 month high of $260.46.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.61. Progressive had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 12.29 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.09%.

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.