The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Holdings Lowered by Zions Bancorporation N.A.

Zions Bancorporation N.A. lowered its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 18.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 221 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $53,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Progressive by 54.7% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $274.73 on Friday. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $201.34 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $264.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $255.62. 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 company has a market cap of $161.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its 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 net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 (DPR) is currently 2.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $964,042.20. The trade was a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. The trade was a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,255 shares of company stock valued at $16,877,471 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Roth Mkm upped their target price on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 22nd. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $281.06.

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.