The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Sold by United Services Automobile Association

United Services Automobile Association trimmed its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,632 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 173 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association’s holdings in Progressive were worth $3,266,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Progressive by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,400,366 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $12,795,262,000 after acquiring an additional 583,376 shares in the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 218.5% during the fourth quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 9,460 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,267,000 after purchasing an additional 6,490 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 473,677 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $113,498,000 after purchasing an additional 82,404 shares in the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $476,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $59,631,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Down 0.6 %

Progressive stock opened at $273.08 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $261.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $255.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $201.34 and a 52-week high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. Sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $2,194,878.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at $114,691,485.60. This represents a 1.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,696 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total value of $479,391.36. Following the transaction, the executive now directly owns 26,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,546,174.02. This represents a 5.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 65,495 shares of company stock worth $16,668,034. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on PGR. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. HSBC downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group increased their target price on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $318.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $281.06.

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.