The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Sold by Axxcess Wealth Management LLC

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 46.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,336 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,144 shares during the quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PGR. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Progressive by 29.8% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,240 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,867,000 after buying an additional 3,498 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 20.5% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 391,273 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $99,290,000 after buying an additional 66,628 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Progressive by 2.6% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 53,269 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $13,518,000 after buying an additional 1,362 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Progressive by 92.8% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 39,098 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,225,000 after buying an additional 18,820 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 470,394 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $119,367,000 after purchasing an additional 28,398 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $273.08 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $160.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $201.34 and a 52 week high of $292.99. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $261.96 and a 200-day moving average of $255.01.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. HSBC lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $281.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $164,870.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,137,465.20. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $2,500,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 27,741 shares in the company, valued at $6,935,250. The trade was a 26.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 65,495 shares of company stock valued at $16,668,034. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.