Cerity Partners LLC Has $47.55 Million Stock Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Cerity Partners LLC cut its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 192,558 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 14,191 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $47,552,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 0.9% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,516,288 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $14,548,217,000 after acquiring an additional 493,332 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,513,188 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,128,055,000 after purchasing an additional 301,371 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in Progressive by 32.8% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 10,972,574 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,928,141,000 after buying an additional 2,709,417 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the second quarter worth $2,156,939,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.1% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,129,069 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,101,883,000 after buying an additional 42,909 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Barclays reduced their price target on Progressive from $271.00 to $257.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 20th. UBS Group dropped their price objective 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. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $350.00 to $348.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $242.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $260.27.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.29, for a total transaction of $307,050.05. Following the sale, the insider owned 27,698 shares in the company, valued at $6,323,176.42. This represents a 4.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.48, for a total value of $1,142,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 223,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,956,523.52. This represents a 2.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 9,034 shares of company stock worth $2,047,481 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $209.33 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $122.75 billion, a PE ratio of 11.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.34. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $199.90 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $222.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $236.69.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.