Empowered Funds LLC Sells 23,527 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Empowered Funds LLC cut its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 41.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,866 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 23,527 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $7,875,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Forbes J M & Co. LLP grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Forbes J M & Co. LLP now owns 47,153 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $11,298,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 21.4% during the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 14,369 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,443,000 after acquiring an additional 2,536 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Progressive by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,145 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $514,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,252 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,415,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mezzasalma Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC now owns 7,750 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,857,000 after purchasing an additional 1,661 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on PGR shares. StockNews.com downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Raymond James upgraded Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Progressive from $277.00 to $261.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.71.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total transaction of $952,416.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,645,222.40. This represents a 8.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total value of $2,680,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,539,110.22. The trade was a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Down 0.4 %

Progressive stock opened at $249.61 on Tuesday. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $180.72 and a fifty-two week high of $270.62. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $245.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $246.02. 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 stock has a market cap of $146.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.33, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.42.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.78%.

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.