Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC Decreases Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC cut its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 135,162 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 2,642 shares during the quarter. Progressive makes up about 2.3% of Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $32,386,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Davis Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its holdings in Progressive by 114.1% in the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Progressive in the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Performance

Progressive stock opened at $244.86 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $175.50 and a 1-year high of $270.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s 50-day moving average is $248.08 and its 200 day moving average is $244.03.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 962 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $234,044.98. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,787 shares in the company, valued at $8,463,329.23. This represents a 2.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at $67,530,756.28. This represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 42,506 shares of company stock worth $10,531,159 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PGR. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Raymond James raised shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $274.65.

Progressive 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.