Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Sells 1,004,473 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lessened its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 20.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,971,869 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,004,473 shares during the quarter. Progressive accounts for about 1.4% of Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in Progressive were worth $951,700,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 54.7% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 1,066 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp boosted 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 worth $384,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Monument Capital Management boosted 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 worth $3,298,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,530,756.28. This represents a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $2,681,299.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at $115,255,231.44. This trade represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 66,255 shares of company stock worth $16,877,471. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $272.49 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $159.74 billion, a PE ratio of 18.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $264.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $255.49. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $201.34 and a 52 week high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued 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, analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 22nd. HSBC lowered shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $281.06.

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.