Flputnam Investment Management Co. Trims Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. cut its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,692 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 274 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $588,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 143.6% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 190 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 109.1% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 207 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. HSBC upped their price target on Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Progressive from $279.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Progressive from $228.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Progressive from $232.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $211.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total transaction of $1,603,843.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,128,485.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total transaction of $1,603,843.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 32,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,128,485.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total transaction of $5,645,965.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 0.4 %

PGR opened at $209.12 on Thursday. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $111.41 and a one year high of $212.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.48 billion, a PE ratio of 21.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.35. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $198.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $174.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.36.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 8.89%. The company had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 11.09 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.09%.

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.