Contravisory Investment Management Inc. Has $456,000 Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,902 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 108 shares during the quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $456,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Progressive by 20.9% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 237 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Castleview Partners LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 1,712 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $434,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Washington Trust Bank lifted its stake in Progressive by 4.6% in the third quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 1,024 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 21.3% during the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 262 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $242.17 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market cap of $141.87 billion, a PE ratio of 17.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50 day moving average of $251.06 and a 200-day moving average of $242.00. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $166.92 and a 1-year high of $270.62.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. The firm had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.95 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 13.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.91%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total value of $2,680,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,539,110.22. This represents a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $2,194,878.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,691,485.60. The trade was a 1.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,919 shares of company stock valued at $8,222,168. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PGR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Progressive from $277.00 to $261.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. HSBC lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.24.

About Progressive

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.