Gryphon Financial Partners LLC Sells 940 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Gryphon Financial Partners LLC cut its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 33.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,863 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 940 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its holdings in Progressive by 1,650.0% during the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 282,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. This represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at $8,137,465.20. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $14,102,075 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $284.95 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $251.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $251.57. The company has a market cap of $166.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $187.32 and a 52-week high of $285.28.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on PGR. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.59.

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.