The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) CFO John P. Sauerland Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.94, for a total value of $2,759,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 258,024 shares in the company, valued at $71,199,142.56. The trade was a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Progressive Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE:PGR opened at $283.44 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $266.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $256.15. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $201.34 and a 12 month high of $292.99. The company has a market capitalization of $166.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.68, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on PGR. HSBC lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $281.06.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $1,843,045,000. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in Progressive by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,171,501 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,239,143,000 after purchasing an additional 2,085,833 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $408,416,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,652,235,000 after buying an additional 1,682,213 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 34.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,451,602,000 after buying an additional 1,547,677 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.