The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Sold by Princeton Global Asset Management LLC

Princeton Global Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 25.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 575 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $138,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Czech National Bank lifted its position in Progressive by 6.9% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 119,306 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,275,000 after purchasing an additional 7,696 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 28.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,380 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,873,000 after buying an additional 1,655 shares in the last quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 1.9% during the third quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC now owns 8,243 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,092,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in Progressive by 84.3% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 25,738 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,531,000 after acquiring an additional 11,770 shares during the period. Finally, Verde Servicos Internacionais S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 3rd quarter worth $5,317,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,530,756.28. The trade was a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $2,681,299.09. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,255,231.44. This represents a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Raymond James raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. HSBC cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $302.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.71.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $249.06 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $247.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $244.91. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $179.90 and a fifty-two week high of $270.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap of $145.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.42.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. Sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

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.