Franklin Resources Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,399,355 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 19,040 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $352,470,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 20.9% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 237 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Castleview Partners LLC increased its stake 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 in the last quarter. Washington Trust Bank raised its holdings in Progressive by 4.6% during the third quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 1,024 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 21.3% in the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 262 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $251.86 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $253.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $236.56. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $149.14 and a one year high of $270.62. The stock has a market cap of $147.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The company had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.95 billion. Equities analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $270.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total transaction of $549,970.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,462,038.44. The trade was a 13.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 7,696 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.21, for a total transaction of $1,964,096.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at $3,876,384.69. This represents a 33.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,839 shares of company stock valued at $6,718,965 over the last 90 days. 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.