Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Shares Gap Down After Insider Selling

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $283.28, but opened at $276.50. Progressive shares last traded at $272.08, with a volume of 679,646 shares trading hands.

Specifically, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,696 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total value of $479,391.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 26,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,546,174.02. This trade represents a 5.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total value of $435,861.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 268,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,759,663.84. This trade represents a 0.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PGR. Barclays lifted their price objective on Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. HSBC lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $281.76.

Progressive Trading Down 4.1 %

The company has a market cap of $159.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.84, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $259.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $254.57.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 2.78%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 54.7% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.