Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Sells 98 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC cut its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 2.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,824 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 98 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,020,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Progressive by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,022,956 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $15,289,037,000 after purchasing an additional 622,590 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC raised its position in Progressive by 61.4% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 8,346,133 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,362,039,000 after purchasing an additional 3,174,632 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in Progressive by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,263,157 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,338,556,000 after purchasing an additional 1,091,828 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in Progressive by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 6,380,134 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,805,642,000 after purchasing an additional 396,567 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive in the 1st quarter worth about $1,473,180,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,420 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.22, for a total transaction of $1,555,052.40. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,679,806.24. This trade represents a 29.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 16,664 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $4,153,335.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 228,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,832,701.76. This trade represents a 6.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 130,045 shares of company stock valued at $31,997,390. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $243.77 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $245.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $260.32. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $228.54 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The company has a market cap of $142.90 billion, a PE ratio of 13.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.32.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The firm had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.39 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.48 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PGR. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $265.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective (down from $327.00) on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $273.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $279.63.

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.