Cascade Financial Partners LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Cascade Financial Partners LLC lowered its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,402 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 72 shares during the period. Cascade Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $336,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PGR. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $408,416,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 13.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,652,235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,682,213 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 21.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,205,266,000 after acquiring an additional 842,109 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in Progressive by 75.3% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,494,084 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $379,139,000 after acquiring an additional 641,943 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 36,819.8% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,195 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $136,145,000 after acquiring an additional 566,656 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Down 0.5 %

PGR stock opened at $277.33 on Wednesday. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $195.57 and a twelve month high of $287.49. 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 stock has a market cap of $162.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.26, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $255.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $253.33.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 4,669 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.70, for a total value of $1,305,919.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,248,922.70. The trade was a 23.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,227 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.00, for a total value of $344,787.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 28,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,978,433. This represents a 4.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 62,257 shares of company stock valued at $15,752,781. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on PGR shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Progressive from $333.00 to $318.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Raymond James raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $276.59.

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.