Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Sells 610,068 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lowered its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 84.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 113,113 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 610,068 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Progressive were worth $22,424,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Progressive by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,261,140 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,584,067,000 after acquiring an additional 593,612 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,808,762 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,373,474,000 after purchasing an additional 78,374 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,921,724 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,398,123,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217,527 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,432,549 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,375,706,000 after purchasing an additional 1,092,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $1,836,094,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of PGR stock opened at $213.85 on Monday. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $189.20 and a 1 year high of $254.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $209.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $205.87. The company has a market cap of $124.96 billion, a PE ratio of 10.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.26.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,183,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 41,290 shares in the company, valued at $8,258,000. This trade represents a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.33, for a total transaction of $1,514,310.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 22,546 shares in the company, valued at $4,877,376.18. This trade represents a 23.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 15,230 shares of company stock worth $3,165,817 over the last three months. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on PGR. HSBC boosted their target price on Progressive from $214.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Progressive from $217.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley raised Progressive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $210.00 in a report on Friday. Evercore set a $240.00 target price on Progressive in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $205.00 to $198.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $236.11.

About Progressive

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.