The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) CIO Jonathan S. Bauer Sells 1,227 Shares

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.00, for a total value of $344,787.00. Following the transaction, the executive now owns 28,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,978,433. This represents a 4.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $278.74 on Tuesday. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $195.43 and a 1 year high of $287.49. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $255.01 and its 200 day moving average is $253.08. The stock has a market cap of $163.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.36, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 2.78%.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. TFR Capital LLC. bought a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $1,712,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $118,434,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 112.0% during the fourth quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 34,541 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $8,276,000 after purchasing an additional 18,250 shares during the last quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 44.3% during the fourth quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 2,606 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $624,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $359,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on PGR. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $333.00 to $318.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. 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. Finally, HSBC cut 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. 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 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $276.59.

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.