Davidson Investment Advisors Sells 17,007 Shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Davidson Investment Advisors trimmed its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 16.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 84,890 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 17,007 shares during the period. Progressive accounts for 1.2% of Davidson Investment Advisors’ portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Davidson Investment Advisors’ holdings in Progressive were worth $24,025,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 114.0% in the 1st quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the first quarter worth $28,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of PGR stock opened at $260.30 on Monday. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $207.50 and a one year high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $152.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.55, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.37. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $274.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $265.62.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 33.50%. Sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, July 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $288.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Stuart B. Burgdoerfer sold 3,681 shares of Progressive 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 sale, the director owned 12,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,181,673.31. The trade was a 23.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,267 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 27,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,191,955.98. This represents a 4.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 42,705 shares of company stock worth $11,450,948 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.