UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lowered its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,682,248 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 174,651 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned 0.97% of Progressive worth $1,293,962,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Progressive by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,261,140 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,584,067,000 after buying an additional 593,612 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Progressive by 0.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,808,762 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,373,474,000 after buying an additional 78,374 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Progressive by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,921,724 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,398,123,000 after buying an additional 1,217,527 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Progressive by 26.1% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,167,940 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,757,905,000 after buying an additional 2,314,864 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $1,836,094,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $202.86 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $199.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $208.05. The firm has a market cap of $118.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.31, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.28. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $189.20 and a 1 year high of $269.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.37 earnings per share. Analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total transaction of $55,755.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,227. This trade represents a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,183,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,258,000. The trade was a 12.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,343 shares of company stock valued at $1,470,355. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their target price on Progressive from $218.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Progressive from $218.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Zacks Research raised Progressive from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Evercore reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.11.

About Progressive

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.