The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Sold by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. trimmed its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 42.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 574,608 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 428,156 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.10% of Progressive worth $137,682,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total value of $435,861.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 268,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,759,663.84. This represents a 0.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,137,465.20. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 65,495 shares of company stock valued at $16,668,034. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PGR. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $318.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $281.06.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $273.08 on Monday. 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 capitalization of $160.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The business’s fifty day moving average is $261.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $255.01. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $201.34 and a 1 year high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.