The Progressive Corporation $PGR Shares Sold by Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lessened its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 595,495 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 49,030 shares during the quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned about 0.10% of Progressive worth $135,842,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 78.9% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,384,082,000 after buying an additional 6,045,732 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 26.1% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,167,940 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,757,905,000 after buying an additional 2,314,864 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 2,012.0% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 767,549 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $189,546,000 after buying an additional 731,207 shares during the period. Marshfield Associates increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 70.8% during the third quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 1,577,453 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $389,552,000 after buying an additional 653,763 shares during the period. Finally, Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the third quarter worth approximately $154,257,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PGR. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $208.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Evercore restated a “negative” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $218.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $227.00 to $210.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $238.39.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,266 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.05, for a total value of $460,111.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive directly owned 26,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,330,062.50. This represents a 7.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total value of $55,755.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,227. The trade was a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 6,933 shares of company stock valued at $1,441,564 over the last ninety days. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $207.77 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.56, a P/E/G ratio of 6.73 and a beta of 0.34. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $192.02 and a 52 week high of $289.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $203.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $213.91.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.37 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 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 Thursday, April 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.03%.

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.