Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $7.57 Million Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 31,603 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 2,111 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Progressive were worth $7,572,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Progressive by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,683,807 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,263,763,000 after purchasing an additional 315,411 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 13.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,652,235,000 after buying an additional 1,682,213 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,518,615 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,669,204,000 after acquiring an additional 170,618 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,067,924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,286,036,000 after purchasing an additional 330,667 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,205,266,000 after purchasing an additional 842,109 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Progressive from $333.00 to $318.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $281.76.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $282.64 on Wednesday. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $201.34 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The stock has a market cap of $165.68 billion, a PE ratio of 19.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $259.99 and a 200-day moving average of $254.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,696 shares of the business’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 $479,391.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now owns 26,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,546,174.02. The trade was a 5.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $2,681,299.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. The trade was a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 65,495 shares of company stock valued at $16,668,034. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Company Profile

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.