Picton Mahoney Asset Management Sells 114,487 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Picton Mahoney Asset Management reduced its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 37.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 189,144 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 114,487 shares during the period. Progressive makes up about 0.8% of Picton Mahoney Asset Management’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Picton Mahoney Asset Management’s holdings in Progressive were worth $30,129,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 14.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,554,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,002,542,000 after purchasing an additional 2,666,449 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,982,841 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $833,410,000 after buying an additional 162,916 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.9% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,641,166 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $785,814,000 after buying an additional 156,332 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 31.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,781,075 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $666,004,000 after buying an additional 1,154,591 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,509,705 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $559,026,000 after buying an additional 146,130 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $215.53. 2,706,155 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,609,659. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $205.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $180.74. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $111.41 and a 52-week high of $216.33. The company has a market cap of $126.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.06, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.34.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The business had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.88 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 11.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 4.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $279.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $211.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total transaction of $1,603,843.36. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 32,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,128,485.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 39,139 shares of company stock valued at $7,458,139. Company 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.