Makaira Partners LLC Sells 274,360 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Makaira Partners LLC cut its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 45.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 329,243 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 274,360 shares during the period. Progressive makes up approximately 12.3% of Makaira Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Makaira Partners LLC owned about 0.06% of Progressive worth $78,890,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $359,000. United Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. United Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,917 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,418,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. American Trust raised its stake in Progressive by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. American Trust now owns 4,559 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,092,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 36,842 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $8,828,000 after purchasing an additional 3,016 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in Progressive by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 837,917 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $200,773,000 after purchasing an additional 21,745 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $277.33 on Monday. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $201.34 and a 12-month high of $292.99. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $275.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $262.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market cap of $162.58 billion, a PE ratio of 19.26, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. Analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 4,669 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.70, for a total transaction of $1,305,919.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,248,922.70. The trade was a 23.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,490 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.67, for a total value of $691,398.30. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,429 shares in the company, valued at $3,451,160.43. The trade was a 16.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 42,384 shares of company stock valued at $11,711,495 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Progressive and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Progressive from $324.00 to $328.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.24.

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.