Navellier & Associates Inc. Sells 14,343 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Navellier & Associates Inc. trimmed its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 26.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,606 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 14,343 shares during the period. Progressive makes up approximately 1.0% of Navellier & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Navellier & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $9,781,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth $2,156,939,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 2,709,417 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Progressive by 0.9% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,516,288 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $14,548,217,000 after purchasing an additional 493,332 shares in the last quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd bought a new stake in Progressive during the second quarter worth about $117,057,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Progressive by 154.3% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 673,646 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $179,769,000 after purchasing an additional 408,779 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR opened at $201.44 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $216.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $228.89. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $197.92 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.12 billion, a PE ratio of 10.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.38.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 presently 2.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore reduced their price objective on Progressive from $250.00 to $237.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Progressive from $252.00 to $225.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $214.00 to $205.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. William Blair lowered shares of Progressive from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Progressive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $257.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $251.29.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.48, for a total transaction of $1,142,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 223,024 shares in the company, valued at $50,956,523.52. The trade was a 2.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 3,105 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.35, for a total transaction of $634,506.75. Following the completion of the sale, the executive owned 26,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,363,983.15. This trade represents a 10.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 12,443 shares of company stock worth $2,723,061 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Company Profile

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.