Osterweis Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Osterweis Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 14.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 145,016 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 24,606 shares during the quarter. Progressive accounts for approximately 1.6% of Osterweis Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Osterweis Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $34,747,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Progressive by 98.2% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $189,000 after buying an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Progressive by 2,262.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 433,999 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $103,990,000 after purchasing an additional 415,628 shares during the period. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 42.3% in the 4th quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,849,000 after purchasing an additional 3,534 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 30.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,069,697 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $255,882,000 after purchasing an additional 249,958 shares during the period. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,253,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $275.82 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $161.70 billion, a PE ratio of 19.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $273.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $257.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $201.34 and a 52-week high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $142,324.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $969,024.07. This trade represents a 12.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total value of $435,861.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 268,024 shares in the company, valued at $75,759,663.84. This represents a 0.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 56,317 shares of company stock worth $14,844,282. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on PGR. Bank of America lowered shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $300.00 to $287.00 in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $317.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Raymond James raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $283.71.

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.