World Investment Advisors Has $2.62 Million Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

World Investment Advisors lifted its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 35.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,822 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,577 shares during the quarter. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Progressive were worth $2,621,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PGR. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Progressive by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,022,956 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $15,289,037,000 after purchasing an additional 622,590 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 61.4% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 8,346,133 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,362,039,000 after purchasing an additional 3,174,632 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in Progressive by 15.2% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,263,157 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,338,556,000 after purchasing an additional 1,091,828 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 6.6% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 6,380,134 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,805,642,000 after purchasing an additional 396,567 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Progressive during the first quarter worth approximately $1,473,180,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America upped their target price on Progressive from $350.00 to $351.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Barclays dropped their price target on Progressive from $271.00 to $257.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Progressive to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $273.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $276.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $268.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $536,977.80. Following the sale, the insider owned 43,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,532,802.60. The trade was a 4.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.18, for a total value of $2,017,201.34. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,767,027.20. The trade was a 17.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 58,500 shares of company stock worth $14,430,089 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Down 0.6%

PGR opened at $206.71 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $206.41 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $237.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $254.67. The company has a market capitalization of $121.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.32.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by ($0.59). Progressive had a return on equity of 33.88% and a net margin of 12.57%.The business had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.58 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.19%.

Progressive Profile

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.