Princeton Global Asset Management LLC Sells 200 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Princeton Global Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 25.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 575 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $138,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Czech National Bank grew its stake in Progressive by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 119,306 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,275,000 after purchasing an additional 7,696 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Progressive by 28.9% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,380 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,873,000 after buying an additional 1,655 shares during the period. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC grew its position in Progressive by 1.9% during the third quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC now owns 8,243 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,092,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co raised its position in Progressive by 84.3% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 25,738 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,531,000 after acquiring an additional 11,770 shares during the period. Finally, Verde Servicos Internacionais S.A. purchased a new position in Progressive in the third quarter valued at about $5,317,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $2,681,299.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. The trade was a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total transaction of $952,416.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,645,222.40. The trade was a 8.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.71.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $249.06 on Tuesday. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $179.90 and a twelve month high of $270.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $145.90 billion, a PE ratio of 17.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.42. The company’s 50 day moving average is $247.01 and its 200 day moving average is $244.91.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.4 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

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.