First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Purchases 833 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 4.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,292 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 833 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $4,197,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sachetta LLC bought a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Northwest Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Progressive by 143.6% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 190 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO bought a new stake in Progressive during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Progressive during the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.40, for a total value of $2,104,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 302,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,742,363.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.40, for a total value of $2,104,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 302,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,742,363.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.11, for a total transaction of $135,271.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $828,485.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 34,518 shares of company stock valued at $7,159,674. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Stock Down 0.4 %

PGR stock traded down $0.75 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $210.27. 1,284,908 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,506,822. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $123.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.35. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $209.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $194.75. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $111.41 and a 1-year high of $217.77.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The firm had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.88 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 11.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on PGR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, June 17th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $171.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $216.81.

Progressive Company 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.