Pacer Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Pacer Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 12.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 46,424 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 6,845 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $11,124,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Davis Capital Management acquired a new stake in Progressive in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its position in shares of Progressive by 114.1% in the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the third quarter worth $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on PGR shares. Raymond James raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Progressive from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $261.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. HSBC downgraded shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $274.65.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $244.86 on Wednesday. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $175.50 and a 1 year high of $270.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $143.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30. The company’s fifty day moving average is $248.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $244.03.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total value of $2,680,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,539,110.22. This represents a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares in the company, valued at $964,042.20. The trade was a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 42,506 shares of company stock worth $10,531,159. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive 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.