Insider Selling: The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) CFO Sells $435,861.72 in Stock

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total value of $435,861.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 268,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,759,663.84. This represents a 0.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $274.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $261.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $254.84. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $201.34 and a 1-year high of $292.99. The company has a market cap of $160.92 billion, a PE ratio of 19.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.78%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 54.7% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 3,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Barclays upped their price target on Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Progressive from $318.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $281.06.

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.