Foster & Motley Inc. Cuts Stock Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Foster & Motley Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 9.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,974 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 437 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $952,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PGR. Davis Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 114.1% in the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:PGR opened at $249.20 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $145.98 billion, a PE ratio of 18.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s 50-day moving average is $247.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $244.27. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $176.37 and a 12 month high of $270.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

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 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. Research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 13.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PGR. TD Cowen upped their target price on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Progressive from $277.00 to $261.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $2,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,935,250. This trade represents a 26.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $964,042.20. The trade was a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,506 shares of company stock valued at $13,031,159 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.