Insider Selling: The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) CAO Sells $99,421.20 in Stock

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total transaction of $99,421.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 655 shares in the company, valued at $180,891.35. This represents a 35.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $272.49 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $264.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $255.49. The stock has a market cap of $159.74 billion, a PE ratio of 18.92, 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PGR. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,000. 111 Capital bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at $4,134,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 36.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 175,853 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $42,136,000 after buying an additional 46,915 shares during the period. TFR Capital LLC. bought a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $1,712,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $118,434,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on PGR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays increased their price target on Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $281.06.

About Progressive

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.