Eventide Asset Management LLC Sells 4,164 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Eventide Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 35.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,504 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 4,164 shares during the quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,726,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,836,094,000. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 78.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,384,082,000 after purchasing an additional 6,045,732 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 26.1% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,167,940 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,757,905,000 after purchasing an additional 2,314,864 shares during the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $353,906,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 193.2% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,206,742 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $502,519,000 after purchasing an additional 1,454,111 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $202.86 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $118.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.28. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $199.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $207.93. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $189.20 and a 52 week high of $269.84.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.37 EPS. On average, analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Progressive from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays set a $247.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $218.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total transaction of $55,755.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,227. This trade represents a 32.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,183,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,258,000. This represents a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 7,343 shares of company stock worth $1,470,355. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Progressive 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.