John P. Sauerland Sells 1,542 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Stock

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total transaction of $435,861.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 268,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,759,663.84. The trade was a 0.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Progressive Stock Down 1.9 %

PGR stock traded down $5.59 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $285.64. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,172,954 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,387,392. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $259.18 and its 200-day moving average is $254.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $201.34 and a 12 month high of $294.22. The company has a market cap of $167.44 billion, a PE ratio of 19.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on PGR. Raymond James upgraded Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Progressive from $333.00 to $318.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $281.76.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,843,045,000. GQG Partners LLC raised its position in Progressive by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,171,501 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,239,143,000 after acquiring an additional 2,085,833 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth $408,416,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,652,235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,682,213 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 34.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,451,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,547,677 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

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.