Insider Selling: Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Insider Sells 6,420 Shares of Stock

The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) insider Patrick Callahan sold 6,420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.22, for a total value of $1,555,052.40. Following the sale, the insider owned 15,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,679,806.24. This trade represents a 29.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Progressive Stock Down 0.6%

NYSE PGR traded down $1.42 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $240.92. 936,449 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,173,527. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $228.54 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The company has a 50 day moving average of $245.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $263.22. 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 $141.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.58, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.32.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Progressive by 0.9% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,516,288 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $14,548,217,000 after acquiring an additional 493,332 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,513,188 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,128,055,000 after purchasing an additional 301,371 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 32.8% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 10,972,574 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,928,141,000 after purchasing an additional 2,709,417 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 61.4% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 8,346,133 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,362,039,000 after buying an additional 3,174,632 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the second quarter worth about $2,156,939,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PGR. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $265.00 target price (down from $327.00) on shares of Progressive in a report on Thursday. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $280.00 to $268.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 21st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Progressive from $309.00 to $287.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 11th. BMO Capital Markets set a $252.00 price target on Progressive in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $279.44.

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.