The Progressive Corporation $PGR Shares Sold by Ameritas Advisory Services LLC

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lowered its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 61.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 658 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,069 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $176,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 114.0% during the 1st quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 210.0% during the 1st quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new position in Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.18, for a total transaction of $2,017,201.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,767,027.20. This represents a 17.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $536,977.80. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 43,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,532,802.60. This represents a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 130,045 shares of company stock valued at $31,997,390 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on PGR shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Progressive to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Progressive from $275.00 to $273.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Wolfe Research started coverage on Progressive in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $278.63.

Progressive Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $243.07 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market cap of $142.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.32. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $245.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $260.20. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $228.54 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

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.