Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Sells 20,786 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 31.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 45,135 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 20,786 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $9,860,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 235.1% in the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Progressive in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Kilter Group LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total transaction of $1,797,824.92. Following the sale, the insider owned 32,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,880,743.08. This trade represents a 20.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,225 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.40, for a total transaction of $268,765.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 31,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,857,785.80. This trade represents a 3.77% 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 120,787 shares of company stock worth $25,880,894. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE PGR opened at $221.38 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $128.70 billion, a PE ratio of 11.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a fifty day moving average of $217.51 and a 200 day moving average of $207.58. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $189.20 and a 1 year high of $249.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.64 by $1.03. The company had revenue of $23.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.40 EPS. Research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 2.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Progressive from $198.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Progressive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $236.26.

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.