The Progressive Corporation $PGR Shares Purchased by MUFG Securities EMEA plc

MUFG Securities EMEA plc increased its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 178.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 105,699 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 67,700 shares during the period. Progressive makes up 0.0% of MUFG Securities EMEA plc’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. MUFG Securities EMEA plc’s holdings in Progressive were worth $28,207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Progressive by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $813,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth $269,000. Bison Wealth LLC raised its position in Progressive by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $615,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its position in Progressive by 16.1% during the 1st quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 5,728 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,621,000 after buying an additional 793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mutual Advisors LLC raised its position in Progressive by 20.2% during the 1st quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 3,983 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,056,000 after buying an additional 670 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on PGR shares. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Progressive to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $273.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Progressive from $270.00 to $262.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 16th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Progressive from $268.00 to $261.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, September 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $268.90.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.78, for a total transaction of $556,230.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 45,724 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,466,664.72. This trade represents a 4.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.18, for a total transaction of $2,017,201.34. Following the transaction, the insider owned 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,767,027.20. This trade represents a 17.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 58,500 shares of company stock worth $14,430,089 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $205.97 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $237.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $254.01. The Progressive Corporation has a twelve month low of $205.55 and a twelve month high of $292.99. The company has a market capitalization of $120.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.32.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.19%.

About Progressive

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.