Voya Investment Management LLC Sells 240,815 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Voya Investment Management LLC decreased its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 28.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 596,979 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 240,815 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $147,424,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in Progressive during the second quarter worth $33,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 900.0% during the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 130 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management boosted its stake in Progressive by 6,350.0% in the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 129 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $224.87 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $223.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $241.60. The stock has a market cap of $131.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $199.90 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 EPS 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 last year, the firm posted $3.58 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 2nd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.19%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.48, for a total value of $1,142,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 223,024 shares in the company, valued at $50,956,523.52. This represents a 2.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.29, for a total transaction of $307,050.05. Following the transaction, the insider owned 27,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,323,176.42. The trade was a 4.63% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 7,690 shares of company stock valued at $1,745,350. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on PGR. Wells Fargo & Company set a $242.00 target price on Progressive in a research note on Friday. Zacks Research cut shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $256.00 to $253.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $242.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $264.68.

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.