Shell Asset Management Co. Sells 43,851 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Shell Asset Management Co. decreased its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 72.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,050 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 43,851 shares during the quarter. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $4,210,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 30.2% during the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 102,778 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,381,000 after acquiring an additional 23,833 shares during the period. Allstate Corp lifted its holdings in Progressive by 1,614.1% during the 3rd quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 21,598 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,334,000 after purchasing an additional 20,338 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 87,760 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $23,420,000 after purchasing an additional 1,192 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 91.7% in the 3rd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 11,710 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,892,000 after buying an additional 5,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. increased its position in Progressive by 40.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 16,840 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,159,000 after buying an additional 4,865 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PGR. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, December 29th. William Blair downgraded shares of Progressive from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Progressive from $252.00 to $225.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $239.00 to $232.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, HSBC downgraded Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $250.35.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $204.43 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $197.92 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.16 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $214.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $227.90.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 2.08%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 3,105 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.35, for a total value of $634,506.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive directly owned 26,249 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,363,983.15. This represents a 10.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,344 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.80, for a total value of $302,131.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 26,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,924,379.20. This trade represents a 4.85% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,443 shares of company stock valued at $2,723,061. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Progressive Company Profile

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.