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

WealthTrust Asset Management LLC lessened its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,984 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 185 shares during the period. WealthTrust Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $955,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Progressive by 54.7% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in Progressive by 3,000.0% during 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, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $283.87 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $166.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $201.34 and a 12-month high of $287.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business’s 50 day moving average is $258.14 and its 200-day moving average is $254.03.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $281.76.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $164,870.10. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total value of $2,386,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,530,756.28. The trade was a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 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 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.