Baillie Gifford & Co. Sells 10,263 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Baillie Gifford & Co. lowered its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 13.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,493 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 10,263 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $16,172,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 13.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,652,235,000 after buying an additional 1,682,213 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Progressive by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,205,266,000 after acquiring an additional 842,109 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 75.3% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,494,084 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $379,139,000 after acquiring an additional 641,943 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 29,701.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 596,331 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $151,325,000 after purchasing an additional 594,330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 102.3% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,024,992 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $260,102,000 after purchasing an additional 518,262 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $262.71 on Tuesday. 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 Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $186.94 and a 12-month high of $270.62. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $244.97 and a 200-day moving average of $247.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.42.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $164,870.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,137,465.20. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares in the company, valued at $964,042.20. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on PGR. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. HSBC downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Bank of America raised 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. 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 company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.71.

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.