The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) Shares Sold by ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. cut its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 3.4% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 185,940 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 6,522 shares during the period. Progressive accounts for 2.1% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $52,623,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Integrated Advisors Network LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 3,808 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Pines Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,287 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $335,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.0% in the first quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,940 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $549,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Financial Group increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 3,659 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,036,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Kesler Norman & Wride LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $885,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,267 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.38, for a total value of $329,901.46. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,621 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,191,955.98. This trade represents a 4.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stuart B. Burgdoerfer sold 3,681 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total transaction of $958,642.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 12,217 shares in the company, valued at $3,181,673.31. This represents a 23.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 42,705 shares of company stock valued at $11,450,948 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Morgan Stanley set a $330.00 price target on Progressive and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $288.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.88.

Progressive Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of PGR opened at $257.75 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market cap of $151.10 billion, a PE ratio of 17.38, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.37. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $207.50 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $274.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $265.11.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 33.50%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 4th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.70%.

Progressive Company 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.