Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Sells 11,991 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp decreased its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 449,450 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 11,991 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Progressive were worth $110,992,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Progressive by 0.9% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,516,288 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $14,548,217,000 after acquiring an additional 493,332 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,513,188 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,128,055,000 after purchasing an additional 301,371 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 32.8% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 10,972,574 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,928,141,000 after purchasing an additional 2,709,417 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,156,939,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,129,069 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,101,883,000 after buying an additional 42,909 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on PGR shares. Raymond James Financial cut their price target on Progressive from $305.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $227.00 target price on Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $268.00 to $261.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $350.00 to $348.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $259.39.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 5,000 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $50,956,523.52. This trade represents a 2.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 3,105 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.35, for a total transaction of $634,506.75. Following the transaction, the executive directly owned 26,249 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,363,983.15. This represents a 10.58% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 13,788 shares of company stock valued at $3,018,961. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR opened at $206.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $120.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.34. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $221.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $232.28. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $198.50 and a 1 year high of $292.99.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.19%.

Key Headlines Impacting Progressive

Here are the key news stories impacting Progressive this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Progressive showed relative strength versus the broader market in the latest session, which can support short?term buying interest ahead of earnings. Progressive (PGR) Beats Stock Market Upswing: What Investors Need to Know
• Neutral Sentiment: Q4 earnings preview: analysts expect earnings growth, but the Zacks preview flags items beyond headline EPS — underwriting trends, combined ratio and pricing momentum will determine whether Progressive delivers a beat or conservative guidance. This makes the print a binary near?term catalyst. Progressive (PGR) Q4 Earnings Preview
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation/strategy check: a Yahoo Finance piece questions whether Progressive’s long?term growth is being priced appropriately after the recent pullback — useful context for value investors given PGR’s relatively low P/E (~11) but shorter?term technical weakness (50?day < 200?day MA). Is Progressive (PGR) Pricing Its Long Term Growth Potential Correctly After Recent Pullback
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive threat — Lemonade’s new partnership with Tesla to offer steep discounts on FSD miles creates a potential pricing innovation that could win lower?loss, tech?savvy customers and put pressure on legacy insurers’ pricing and margins if scaled. This raises longer?term competitive risk for Progressive’s auto franchise. Lemonade’s Tesla Deal Could Rewrite How Auto Insurance Is Priced
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: recent open?market sales by CIO Jonathan Bauer and Andrew Quigg were disclosed (multiple transactions at ~\$204/share). While not huge relative to company size, clustered insider sales ahead of earnings can be perceived negatively by some investors. Progressive Insider Sells
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst/expectations risk: several firms have trimmed price targets or kept neutral/underweight calls; Zacks flags that while growth is expected, there may be limited obvious upside from an earnings?beat narrative, so a miss or cautious guidance could drive further downside. Progressive (PGR) Reports Next Week

About Progressive

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.