NewEdge Wealth LLC Takes $9.43 Million Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

NewEdge Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 43,156 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,427,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth $10,496,271,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,836,094,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,098,838,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 181.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,506,302 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,481,615,000 after purchasing an additional 4,197,212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diamant Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 19,724.0% during the first quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,068,876 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $806,614,000 after purchasing an additional 4,048,351 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Progressive from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Progressive from $205.00 to $198.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Progressive from $313.00 to $308.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Progressive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $190.00 to $210.00 in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $234.11.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 37,338 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 value of $7,942,165.98. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 522,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $111,199,682.96. This trade represents a 6.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total value of $1,797,824.92. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,880,743.08. This trade represents a 20.72% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders have sold 82,224 shares of company stock worth $17,416,438 in the last quarter. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Trading Up 4.9%

NYSE:PGR opened at $217.28 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.27. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $214.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $206.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $189.20 and a 12-month high of $254.93.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.64 by $1.03. Progressive had a return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.The company had revenue of $23.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.49 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.40 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.47 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

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.