Parnassus Investments LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Parnassus Investments LLC cut its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 25.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 449,242 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 153,483 shares during the quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $107,643,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 54.7% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its position in shares of Progressive by 1,650.0% during 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 in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $279.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $199.54 and a 1-year high of $287.49. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $257.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $253.68. The company has a market capitalization of $163.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.41, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Progressive from $333.00 to $318.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.82.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the firm’s 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 $164,870.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,137,465.20. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. This trade represents a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 62,257 shares of company stock worth $15,752,781. 0.34% of the stock is 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.