C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. Sells 657 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 37.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,111 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 657 shares during the quarter. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $266,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 41 shares during the period. 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, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $279.13 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $265.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $255.91. The company has a market capitalization of $163.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. 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 $201.34 and a 52-week high of $292.99.

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

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $164,870.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at $8,137,465.20. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 56,255 shares of company stock valued at $14,490,871. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on PGR shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $281.06.

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.