William Blair Investment Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

William Blair Investment Management LLC cut its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 47.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,699 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 25,490 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $7,087,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Progressive by 30.2% during the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 102,778 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,381,000 after buying an additional 23,833 shares during the period. Allstate Corp increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1,614.1% in the 3rd quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 21,598 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,334,000 after acquiring an additional 20,338 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 91.7% in the 3rd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 11,710 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,892,000 after acquiring an additional 5,600 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in Progressive by 40.6% in the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 16,840 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,159,000 after purchasing an additional 4,865 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in Progressive by 471.3% in the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 22,496 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,556,000 after purchasing an additional 18,558 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Maribel Pumarejo sold 739 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.25, for a total transaction of $150,201.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,266 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.05, for a total transaction of $460,111.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive directly owned 26,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,330,062.50. The trade was a 7.95% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 9,103 shares of company stock worth $1,883,924 over the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on PGR shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $220.00 to $214.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $216.00 price target on Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Progressive from $214.00 to $205.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Roth Mkm set a $235.00 target price on Progressive in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Progressive from $300.60 to $261.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $245.50.

Progressive Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $213.14 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $124.99 billion, a PE ratio of 11.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.32 and a beta of 0.33. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $209.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $224.60. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $197.92 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.29.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.08%.

Progressive Company 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.