New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 19,199 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

New York State Teachers Retirement System reduced its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 578,931 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 19,199 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.10% of Progressive worth $92,212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 109.1% during the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 207 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. DecisionPoint Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the second quarter valued at $35,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the second quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the third quarter valued at $36,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $211.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $123.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $194.51 and its 200-day moving average is $170.69. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $111.41 and a 1-year high of $212.24.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The insurance provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.53. The business had revenue of $16.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.10 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 6.28% and a return on equity of 21.25%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.08%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 551 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.24, for a total value of $93,251.24. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,725,350.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 5,939 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.24, for a total transaction of $1,005,116.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 465,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,821,329.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.24, for a total value of $93,251.24. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,921 shares in the company, valued at $4,725,350.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 44,629 shares of company stock valued at $8,348,176 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Raymond James cut shares of Progressive from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price 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. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Progressive from $265.00 to $264.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $188.50.

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.