The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Machina Capital S.A.S.

Machina Capital S.A.S. reduced its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,127 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 581 shares during the quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,468,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 11.3% in the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,525 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,402,000 after buying an additional 562 shares during the last quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 4.4% in the third quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC now owns 1,292 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $328,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 12.6% in the third quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,732 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,201,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares during the period. Advisor Resource Council acquired a new position in Progressive in the third quarter valued at approximately $242,000. Finally, Montecito Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Progressive in the third quarter valued at approximately $208,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on PGR. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $964,042.20. This represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total value of $2,386,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at $67,530,756.28. This represents a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $14,102,075 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $279.77 on Friday. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $194.49 and a 12 month high of $287.49. The stock has a market cap of $163.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.43, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $254.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $252.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

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.