The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Stock Holdings Lessened by Jennison Associates LLC

Jennison Associates LLC cut its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 13.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,125,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 624,441 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $988,436,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of PGR. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Progressive by 3,000.0% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in Progressive by 114.1% during the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1,650.0% in the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Down 1.0 %

PGR stock opened at $246.78 on Monday. 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 firm has a market cap of $144.57 billion, a PE ratio of 17.14, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.42. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $176.37 and a 1 year high of $270.62. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $247.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $244.91.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on PGR. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target 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. Barclays reduced their target price on Progressive from $277.00 to $261.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $2,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,741 shares in the company, valued at $6,935,250. This represents a 26.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total transaction of $952,416.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,645,222.40. This represents a 8.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.