The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Sold by ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 1.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 195,194 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 2,513 shares during the quarter. Progressive makes up about 2.0% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $49,532,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,920 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,580,000 after buying an additional 1,067 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter worth $345,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,765 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $365,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter worth about $528,000. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 5,518 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,141,000 after buying an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $243.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $242.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $250.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $268.19.

Progressive Stock Performance

Progressive stock opened at $255.37 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $247.56 and a 200-day moving average of $223.57. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $149.14 and a 52 week high of $260.46. The stock has a market cap of $149.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.61. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.54 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.57 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 13.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 22,708 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total value of $4,859,739.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 302,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,836,041.58. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total value of $9,281,827.71. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 517,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $110,665,641.05. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 22,708 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total value of $4,859,739.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 302,958 shares in the company, valued at $64,836,041.58. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 144,383 shares of company stock valued at $33,446,453 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive 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.