The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Sold by McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC

McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 26.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,801 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 640 shares during the quarter. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $510,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Progressive by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,400,366 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $12,795,262,000 after buying an additional 583,376 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,615,430 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,498,363,000 after acquiring an additional 189,638 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $1,843,045,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,179,529 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,480,677,000 after acquiring an additional 710,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Progressive by 34.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,451,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,547,677 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 268,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,759,663.84. The trade was a 0.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,696 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total transaction of $479,391.36. Following the transaction, the executive now owns 26,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,546,174.02. This represents a 5.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 37,755 shares of company stock worth $10,367,074. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $262.94 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $275.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $264.53. The company has a market capitalization of $154.14 billion, a PE ratio of 18.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $201.34 and a twelve month high of $292.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.87 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on PGR. Bank of America raised shares of Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $312.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group boosted their price target on Progressive from $285.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.59.

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.