1,477,250 Shares in The Progressive Corporation $PGR Purchased by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,477,250 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $322,706,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 235.1% in the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Progressive by 700.0% during the first quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 144 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 37,338 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 522,776 shares in the company, valued at $111,199,682.96. This trade represents 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 at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 8,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.70, for a total value of $1,727,974.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 41,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,782,595.70. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 82,224 shares of company stock valued at $17,416,438. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $203.98 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.59 billion, a PE ratio of 10.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.27. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $189.20 and a 12-month high of $254.93. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $214.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $206.43.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.64 by $1.03. Progressive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 32.92%. The company had revenue of $23.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.40 EPS. Progressive’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PGR. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Evercore set a $240.00 price objective on Progressive in a report on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Progressive from $250.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Progressive from $205.00 to $198.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $233.16.

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.