HBK Sorce Advisory LLC Reduces Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lowered its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,080 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 160 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $978,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 54.7% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 1,650.0% during the 4th quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.00, for a total transaction of $344,787.00. Following the transaction, the executive now directly owns 28,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,978,433. This represents a 4.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.94, for a total value of $2,799,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 269,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,462,306.04. The trade was a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 62,257 shares of company stock valued at $15,752,781 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $279.54 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $163.87 billion, a PE ratio of 19.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $199.54 and a 12-month high of $287.49. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $257.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $253.68.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on PGR. Bank of America cut their price objective on Progressive from $333.00 to $318.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.82.

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.