Forsta AP Fonden Has $33.82 Million Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Forsta AP Fonden lessened its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 162,800 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 17,800 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Progressive were worth $33,815,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,078,831,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 237.8% during the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,485,750 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $236,650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045,883 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth $188,642,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 4,545.0% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 705,243 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $145,858,000 after purchasing an additional 690,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in Progressive by 548.2% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 811,653 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $167,866,000 after buying an additional 686,433 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR opened at $249.61 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market cap of $146.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.55, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $134.34 and a 12-month high of $254.83. The business has a 50 day moving average of $227.85 and a 200-day moving average of $214.07.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.54 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.57 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 12.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 4.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total transaction of $9,281,827.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 517,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $110,665,641.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total transaction of $9,281,827.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 517,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $110,665,641.05. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 6,122 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.19, for a total value of $1,439,833.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,600,400.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 147,354 shares of company stock valued at $33,502,680 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Progressive from $256.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $243.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $252.29.

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.