The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) CIO Sells $344,787.00 in Stock

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,227 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.00, for a total value of $344,787.00. Following the transaction, the executive now directly owns 28,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,978,433. This trade represents a 4.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR stock traded up $2.65 on Monday, reaching $282.47. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,597,081 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,604,326. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $195.43 and a 52 week high of $287.49. The company has a market capitalization of $165.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $254.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $252.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. As a group, analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.78%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 54.7% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Progressive by 3,000.0% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PGR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $276.59.

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.