Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Sells 54,265 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. cut its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,009,192 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 54,265 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned about 0.34% of Progressive worth $415,541,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sachetta LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Northwest Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 143.6% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 190 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth $35,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE PGR traded down $1.63 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $209.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 143,832 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,571,549. The company has a current ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $111.41 and a 12 month high of $217.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $209.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.23.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 11.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 4.09%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 12,457 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.43, for a total value of $2,546,584.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 312,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,978,003.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 12,457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.43, for a total transaction of $2,546,584.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 312,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,978,003.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,494,976.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,518 shares of company stock worth $7,159,674. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $171.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $279.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $243.00 to $254.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $216.81.

Progressive 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.