The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) Shares Purchased by J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG lifted its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 3.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,077 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 446 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Progressive were worth $4,267,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 457 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $269,000. Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its position in shares of Progressive by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 11,040 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,645,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors raised its position in shares of Progressive by 103.4% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 6,726 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,612,000 after purchasing an additional 3,419 shares during the period. Finally, Smith Moore & CO. increased its position in Progressive by 104.0% in the 4th quarter. Smith Moore & CO. now owns 1,724 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $413,000 after acquiring an additional 879 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of PGR opened at $240.98 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $141.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.58, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $208.13 and a one year high of $292.99. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $260.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $266.19.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a return on equity of 35.37% and a net margin of 12.66%. The firm had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.48 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, July 4th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a yield of 15.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,232 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.16, for a total transaction of $1,509,141.12. Following the transaction, the insider owned 27,844 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,742,703.04. This trade represents a 18.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total value of $552,814.32. Following the transaction, the insider owned 47,942 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,949,064.08. This trade represents a 4.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 104,250 shares of company stock worth $26,332,348 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Progressive from $290.00 to $268.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Progressive from $297.00 to $287.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $286.88.

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.