Clarus Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Clarus Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 23.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,194 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 955 shares during the quarter. Clarus Group Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $765,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Progressive by 20.9% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 237 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp raised its position in shares of Progressive by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,602 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $384,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Castleview Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 1,712 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $434,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Washington Trust Bank raised its position in shares of Progressive by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 1,024 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,137,465.20. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total transaction of $952,416.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 39,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,645,222.40. The trade was a 8.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock opened at $249.61 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $146.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $245.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $246.02. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $180.72 and a 12-month high of $270.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the subject of several research reports. HSBC downgraded shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James upgraded shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, December 26th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $302.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.71.

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.