Parnassus Investments LLC Acquires 54,390 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Parnassus Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 447,075 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 54,390 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $110,405,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH grew its position in Progressive by 2.2% during the third quarter. MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH now owns 29,482 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $7,281,000 after buying an additional 621 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.5% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 81,686 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $20,172,000 after purchasing an additional 1,212 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 3,885 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $959,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its stake in Progressive by 32.4% in the 3rd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 67,056 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $16,559,000 after acquiring an additional 16,398 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Family Capital Trust Co purchased a new position in Progressive during the 3rd quarter worth $155,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock opened at $214.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $199.90 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The company has a market capitalization of $126.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.34. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $223.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $236.17.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by ($0.59). The company had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.64 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.88% and a net margin of 12.57%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.58 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.19%.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.29, for a total transaction of $307,050.05. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 27,698 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,323,176.42. The trade was a 4.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 5,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.48, for a total value of $1,142,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 223,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,956,523.52. This trade represents a 2.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,034 shares of company stock valued at $2,047,481. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on PGR shares. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Progressive from $250.00 to $237.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $303.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Progressive from $256.00 to $253.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on Progressive from $350.00 to $348.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $260.74.

Progressive 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.