Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Sells 5,285 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. reduced its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 64,173 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 5,285 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $14,614,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Progressive by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,261,140 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $12,584,067,000 after purchasing an additional 593,612 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,808,762 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,373,474,000 after acquiring an additional 78,374 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Progressive by 78.9% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,384,082,000 after acquiring an additional 6,045,732 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Progressive by 26.1% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,167,940 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,757,905,000 after acquiring an additional 2,314,864 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Progressive by 4.9% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,196,111 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,036,230,000 after purchasing an additional 197,603 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Up 1.3%

Progressive stock opened at $192.95 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $199.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $209.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $112.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 0.31. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $189.20 and a 52 week high of $289.96.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.37 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 2.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Karen Bailo sold 3,517 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total transaction of $745,604.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 32,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,857,776. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total value of $55,755.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 558 shares in the company, valued at $115,227. This trade represents a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 3,928 shares of company stock worth $831,251 over the last three months. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PGR shares. Evercore reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price target on Progressive in a report on Friday, May 22nd. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Roth Mkm set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $238.11.

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.