Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Sells 2,543 Shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund reduced its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 13.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,005 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 2,543 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Progressive were worth $4,813,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,843,045,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 39,285.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,046,037 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $862,059,000 after acquiring an additional 3,038,303 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 67.6% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,171,501 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,239,143,000 after acquiring an additional 2,085,833 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at about $408,416,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Progressive by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,451,602,000 after acquiring an additional 1,547,677 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Up 0.4%

PGR opened at $261.26 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $153.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.40. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $204.88 and a 12 month high of $292.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $275.34 and a 200 day moving average of $264.47.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 33.50%. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $288.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America upgraded Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $312.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $288.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.94, for a total value of $2,759,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 258,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $71,199,142.56. This trade represents a 3.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.04, for a total transaction of $110,016.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,084.80. The trade was a 4.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,157 shares of company stock valued at $9,352,400 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.