State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Acquires 6,943 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 3.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 206,542 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,943 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Progressive were worth $51,006,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pelham Capital Ltd. raised its position in Progressive by 32.6% in the third quarter. Pelham Capital Ltd. now owns 27,975 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,908,000 after acquiring an additional 6,875 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc grew its position in shares of Progressive by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 477,997 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $117,322,000 after acquiring an additional 6,273 shares during the period. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA now owns 6,282 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,551,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 8,416 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,078,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Finally, Naviter Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 6.1% in the third quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 6,166 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,523,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 3,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.35, for a total transaction of $634,506.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive directly owned 26,249 shares in the company, valued at $5,363,983.15. The trade was a 10.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 28th. The stock was 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 $50,956,523.52. This trade represents a 2.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,443 shares of company stock valued at $2,723,061. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Progressive Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of PGR opened at $204.43 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a twelve month low of $197.92 and a twelve month high of $292.99. The stock has a market cap of $119.88 billion, a PE ratio of 10.63, a P/E/G ratio of 7.16 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $214.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $227.90.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on PGR shares. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Progressive from $239.00 to $232.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. William Blair downgraded Progressive from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Mizuho set a $240.00 price objective on Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. UBS Group set a $226.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $250.35.

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.