MPS Loria Financial Planners LLC Lowers Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

MPS Loria Financial Planners LLC decreased its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 16,077 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. Progressive accounts for approximately 1.1% of MPS Loria Financial Planners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. MPS Loria Financial Planners LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $3,852,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 20.9% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 237 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 1,712 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $434,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Washington Trust Bank grew its stake in Progressive by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 1,024 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Progressive by 21.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 262 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen raised their price target on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.24.

Progressive Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of PGR stock opened at $242.17 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $251.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $242.00. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $166.92 and a 12-month high of $270.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market cap of $141.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.41.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. Equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 13.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.17%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.91%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares in the company, valued at $964,042.20. This represents a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of the firm’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 value of $2,194,878.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,691,485.60. The trade was a 1.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,919 shares of company stock valued at $8,222,168. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.