The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Sold by Geller Advisors LLC

Geller Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,129 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 46 shares during the period. Geller Advisors LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,708,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Progressive by 2,262.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 433,999 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $103,990,000 after purchasing an additional 415,628 shares during the period. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,849,000 after acquiring an additional 3,534 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc raised its position in Progressive by 40.4% in the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 238,250 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $57,132,000 after acquiring an additional 68,589 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 100.3% in the 4th quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 3,541 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $875,000 after acquiring an additional 1,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Archer Investment Corp boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 295.1% during the 4th quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 2,102 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,570 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $288.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $287.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total transaction of $99,421.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $180,891.35. This represents a 35.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total transaction of $435,861.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 268,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,759,663.84. This represents a 0.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,894 shares of company stock worth $11,020,097 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Up 0.1 %

PGR opened at $284.33 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $166.68 billion, a PE ratio of 19.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a 50-day moving average of $275.16 and a 200-day moving average of $260.28. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $201.34 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.87 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.70%.

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.