Devin C. Johnson Sells 400 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Stock

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Director Devin C. Johnson sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.04, for a total value of $110,016.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,084.80. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $274.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $264.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $255.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $161.05 billion, a PE ratio of 19.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $201.34 and a 52 week high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,843,045,000. GQG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 67.6% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,171,501 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,239,143,000 after purchasing an additional 2,085,833 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $408,416,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,652,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682,213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,451,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,547,677 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 22nd. Finally, 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 research note on Thursday, December 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $281.06.

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.