Anchor Capital Advisors LLC Sells 2,840 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 81,010 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 2,840 shares during the period. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $19,411,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 54.7% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its position in Progressive by 1,650.0% during the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Stock Up 2.0 %

NYSE:PGR opened at $279.02 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $249.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $250.50. The company has a market cap of $163.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $186.94 and a 52-week high of $280.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) 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, analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 2.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,530,756.28. The trade was a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $2,194,878.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at $114,691,485.60. The trade was a 1.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 46,361 shares of company stock valued at $11,302,675 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.