Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,346 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 119 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,760,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 67.1% in the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 2,788 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $707,000 after buying an additional 1,120 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Progressive by 20.1% in the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $508,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,490,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 71.6% during the third quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 7,076 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,794,000 after purchasing an additional 2,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 541.2% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 218 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $2,194,878.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,691,485.60. The trade was a 1.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total value of $435,861.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 268,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,759,663.84. This represents a 0.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 65,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,767,455. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $274.57 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $263.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $255.37. The firm has a market cap of $160.96 billion, a PE ratio of 19.07, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 $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.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. 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 0.15%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the topic of a number of research reports. 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, March 14th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Progressive from $318.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Raymond James raised 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.