Andrew J. Quigg Sells 681 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Stock

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at $8,137,465.20. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Progressive Trading Up 1.1 %

Progressive stock opened at $242.13 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market cap of $141.84 billion, a PE ratio of 17.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $251.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $240.94. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $162.35 and a 12 month high of $270.62.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The company had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.95 billion. Analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.17%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.91%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Davis Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Sachetta LLC raised its position in Progressive by 34.0% during the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 209 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in Progressive during the third quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Raymond James raised shares of 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. HSBC lowered shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.00.

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.