American International Group Inc. Sells 5,904 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

American International Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 177,825 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 5,904 shares during the quarter. American International Group Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $28,324,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Giverny Capital Inc. lifted its position in Progressive by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Giverny Capital Inc. now owns 501,431 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $69,849,000 after buying an additional 14,022 shares in the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. bought a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $1,988,000. Invesco LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 3,537 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $563,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP bought a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,090,000. Finally, Strs Ohio increased its position in shares of Progressive by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 168,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,788,000 after purchasing an additional 4,983 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $203.92. 2,913,816 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,341,223. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $111.41 and a fifty-two week high of $217.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $209.09 and its 200 day moving average is $190.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $119.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 11.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.20%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at $1,494,976.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Progressive news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,494,976.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 7,361 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.25, for a total value of $1,525,567.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 35,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,357,996.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,818 shares of company stock worth $4,280,482 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $256.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 10th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $279.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Progressive from $202.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Progressive from $244.00 to $243.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Progressive from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $215.69.

Progressive 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.