The Progressive Corporation $PGR Holdings Lifted by Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 54.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 229,070 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 80,500 shares during the period. Progressive makes up approximately 0.6% of Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Progressive were worth $61,130,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,473,180,000. GQG Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 61.4% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 8,346,133 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,362,039,000 after acquiring an additional 3,174,632 shares during the period. C WorldWide Group Holding A S lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 12,110.3% in the 1st quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S now owns 1,248,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $353,374,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238,402 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,263,157 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,338,556,000 after acquiring an additional 1,091,828 shares during the period. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter worth approximately $194,557,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $536,977.80. Following the sale, the insider owned 43,506 shares in the company, valued at $10,532,802.60. The trade was a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $325,624.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 30,388 shares in the company, valued at $7,356,934.80. This represents a 4.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 58,500 shares of company stock valued at $14,430,089 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Stock Down 1.3%

PGR stock opened at $216.29 on Tuesday. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $216.10 and a 12 month high of $292.99. The firm has a market cap of $126.79 billion, a PE ratio of 11.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.32. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $240.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $255.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.04 by ($0.59). Progressive had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 33.88%. The business had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.58 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $273.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $270.00 to $262.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley set a $214.00 price target on shares of Progressive and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $268.90.

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.