C WorldWide Group Holding A S Increases Stock Holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

C WorldWide Group Holding A S increased its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 12,110.3% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,248,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,238,402 shares during the period. Progressive comprises 4.4% of C WorldWide Group Holding A S’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. C WorldWide Group Holding A S’s holdings in Progressive were worth $353,374,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 114.0% in the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its position in Progressive by 210.0% in the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in Progressive in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Progressive in the first quarter worth about $33,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Progressive from $288.00 to $281.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Evercore ISI cut Progressive from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $275.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Progressive from $290.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $287.63.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.79, for a total transaction of $2,637,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 228,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,150,450.96. This trade represents a 4.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,267 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.38, for a total value of $329,901.46. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 27,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,191,955.98. This represents a 4.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 42,705 shares of company stock worth $11,450,948 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:PGR traded up $0.51 during trading on Friday, hitting $247.78. The company had a trading volume of 372,572 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,831,534. The stock has a market cap of $145.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.37. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $208.13 and a one year high of $292.99. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $268.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $265.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.29.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a return on equity of 35.37% and a net margin of 12.66%. The firm had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.39 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.48 EPS. Progressive’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, July 4th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.70%.

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.