QRG Capital Management Inc. Sells 78,529 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

QRG Capital Management Inc. cut its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 55.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 63,975 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 78,529 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $15,799,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Davis Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new position in Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Progressive by 900.0% during the second quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 130 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new stake in Progressive in the second quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1,885.7% during the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 139 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $227.00 target price on Progressive in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Mizuho set a $240.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $350.00 to $348.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $268.00 to $261.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned 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 $259.39.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.48, for a total value of $1,142,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 223,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,956,523.52. This represents a 2.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,344 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.80, for a total transaction of $302,131.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 26,354 shares in the company, valued at $5,924,379.20. This trade represents a 4.85% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 9,034 shares of company stock valued at $2,047,481 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Progressive Stock Down 0.6%

PGR opened at $202.35 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $199.90 and a 1-year high of $292.99. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $222.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $234.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a market capitalization of $118.66 billion, a PE ratio of 11.10, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.34.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.04 by ($0.59). Progressive had a return on equity of 33.88% and a net margin of 12.57%.The company had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.58 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.19%.

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.