QRG Capital Management Inc. Sells 78,529 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

QRG Capital Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 55.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 63,975 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 78,529 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $15,799,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Progressive in the second quarter worth about $2,156,939,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in Progressive by 32.8% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 10,972,574 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,928,141,000 after buying an additional 2,709,417 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Progressive by 0.9% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,516,288 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $14,548,217,000 after buying an additional 493,332 shares during the last quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd purchased a new position in Progressive during the second quarter worth $117,057,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Progressive by 154.3% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 673,646 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $179,769,000 after acquiring an additional 408,779 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR opened at $202.35 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.66 billion, a PE ratio of 11.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The business’s 50-day moving average is $222.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $234.18. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $199.90 and a 1 year high of $292.99.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays raised shares of Progressive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $257.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Progressive from $242.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Progressive from $250.00 to $237.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $259.39.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,344 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.80, for a total value of $302,131.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 26,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,924,379.20. The trade was a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.48, for a total value of $1,142,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 223,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,956,523.52. This represents a 2.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,034 shares of company stock valued at $2,047,481. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.