Insider Selling: Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Insider Sells 8,452 Shares of Stock

The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total value of $1,797,824.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 32,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,880,743.08. The trade was a 20.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR stock traded up $4.21 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $219.97. 2,478,632 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,294,427. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.54 billion, a PE ratio of 11.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.26. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $189.20 and a 52 week high of $254.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $210.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $205.89.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.01%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PGR. Allstate Corp lifted its stake in Progressive by 106.1% in the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 44,513 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $10,136,000 after buying an additional 22,915 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $1,836,094,000. Investment House LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $8,447,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in Progressive by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,807,068 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $411,506,000 after purchasing an additional 97,275 shares during the period. Finally, Van Cleef Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Progressive by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc now owns 761,587 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $173,429,000 after purchasing an additional 9,017 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $205.00 to $198.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Progressive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $190.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Friday. Evercore set a $240.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Progressive from $231.00 to $226.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $236.11.

About Progressive

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.