The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Sold by Balanced Wealth Group LLC

Balanced Wealth Group LLC cut its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,084 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 79 shares during the period. Balanced Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $760,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $408,416,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 13.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,652,235,000 after buying an additional 1,682,213 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 21.6% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,205,266,000 after buying an additional 842,109 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its position in Progressive by 75.3% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,494,084 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $379,139,000 after buying an additional 641,943 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Progressive by 36,819.8% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,195 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $136,145,000 after purchasing an additional 566,656 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR opened at $277.52 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $162.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $256.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $253.50. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $197.77 and a 1-year high of $287.49.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on PGR. HSBC downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays boosted their target price on Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $276.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was 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 approximately $67,530,756.28. This trade represents a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. This represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Progressive Company 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.