GTS Securities LLC Sells 4,853 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

GTS Securities LLC trimmed its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 81.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,087 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 4,853 shares during the period. GTS Securities LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $237,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $10,496,271,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,682,342,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,836,094,000. GQG Partners LLC bought a new position in Progressive in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,538,570,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Progressive in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,098,838,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on PGR shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded Progressive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, July 24th. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on Progressive from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 17th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Progressive from $225.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $236.26.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 2,242 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total value of $476,895.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive owned 26,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,583,637.50. This represents a 7.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,452 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total transaction of $1,797,824.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 32,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,880,743.08. This trade represents a 20.72% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 83,449 shares of company stock valued at $17,685,203. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of PGR opened at $218.37 on Tuesday. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $189.20 and a 52 week high of $249.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.95, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $217.41 and a 200-day moving average of $207.38.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.64 by $1.03. Progressive had a return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.The business had revenue of $23.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.40 EPS. Progressive’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.01%.

Progressive Company Profile

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.