WealthTrust Asset Management LLC Sells 185 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

WealthTrust Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,984 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 185 shares during the period. WealthTrust Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $955,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its stake in Progressive by 24.9% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 65,471 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $16,614,000 after buying an additional 13,047 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 9.6% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 89,358 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $22,675,000 after acquiring an additional 7,797 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in Progressive by 33.0% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 60,040 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $15,236,000 after buying an additional 14,885 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in Progressive by 0.4% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 746,017 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $189,309,000 after buying an additional 2,610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Paragon Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 0.8% in the third quarter. Paragon Advisors LLC now owns 16,338 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,146,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 4,669 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.70, for a total value of $1,305,919.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,248,922.70. This represents a 23.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.00, for a total transaction of $344,787.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 28,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,978,433. This represents a 4.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 62,257 shares of company stock valued at $15,752,781 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE PGR opened at $283.87 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $166.41 billion, a PE ratio of 19.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a fifty day moving average of $258.14 and a 200 day moving average of $254.03. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $201.34 and a 1 year high of $287.49. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on PGR shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. HSBC downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $281.76.

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.