Insider Selling: The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Insider Sells 681 Shares of Stock

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,137,465.20. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR traded down $2.67 during trading on Monday, reaching $239.55. The company had a trading volume of 2,126,756 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,226,707. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $140.33 billion, a PE ratio of 17.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.41. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $162.35 and a twelve month high of $270.62. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $251.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $240.50.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.17%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.91%.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 13.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,652,235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,682,213 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,205,266,000 after purchasing an additional 842,109 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 75.3% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,494,084 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $379,139,000 after buying an additional 641,943 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 29,701.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 596,331 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $151,325,000 after buying an additional 594,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 206.8% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 875,660 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $222,207,000 after buying an additional 590,235 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PGR shares. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Friday, December 13th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.00.

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.