Handelsbanken Fonder AB Decreases Stake in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Handelsbanken Fonder AB reduced its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 3.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 199,953 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 6,353 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Progressive were worth $43,680,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Klingman & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 2,927 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $667,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,902 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $319,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 18,736 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,267,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Phillips Wealth Planners LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 1,916 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $436,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 37,338 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total transaction of $7,942,165.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 522,776 shares in the company, valued at $111,199,682.96. The trade was a 6.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,499 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $769,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 42,595 shares in the company, valued at $9,370,900. This represents a 7.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 74,885 shares of company stock valued at $15,880,459. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Progressive stock opened at $212.22 on Wednesday. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $189.20 and a 1-year high of $254.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.38 billion, a PE ratio of 10.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.27. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $213.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $206.43.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PGR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $250.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Evercore set a $240.00 price target on Progressive in a report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Progressive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $190.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Progressive from $231.00 to $226.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $235.00.

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.