The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Acquired by Marshall Wace LLP

Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 135.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 873,636 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 503,307 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP owned about 0.15% of Progressive worth $181,463,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Aviance Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at $3,628,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP bought a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $3,090,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 66.4% during the 1st quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,814 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,409,000 after acquiring an additional 2,719 shares during the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 90.4% during the 1st quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 21,056 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,354,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Councilmark Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at $1,890,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total value of $850,689.75. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,015,247.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 3,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total value of $850,689.75. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,015,247.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 9,512 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.50, for a total value of $2,259,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 45,787 shares in the company, valued at $10,874,412.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 151,350 shares of company stock valued at $34,691,584. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Trading Down 0.6 %

Progressive stock opened at $257.60 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $150.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.37, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $137.59 and a one year high of $260.46. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $234.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $217.84.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.54 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.57 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 12.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. HSBC upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Progressive from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $257.18.

Progressive Company Profile

The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, business related general liability, and other specialty property-casualty insurance products and related services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property.