Everett Harris & Co. CA Sells 65,995 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Everett Harris & Co. CA lowered its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 31.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 146,765 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 65,995 shares during the quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA’s holdings in Progressive were worth $23,377,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in Progressive by 2.4% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 43,918,940 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,813,550,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019,643 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,956,012 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,303,427,000 after acquiring an additional 560,479 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Progressive by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,554,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,002,542,000 after acquiring an additional 2,666,449 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Progressive by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 9,754,850 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,291,249,000 after acquiring an additional 403,527 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Progressive by 10.5% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,916,460 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $963,463,000 after purchasing an additional 655,706 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock traded up $1.50 on Wednesday, hitting $206.15. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,954,476 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,487,203. The company has a market capitalization of $120.74 billion, a PE ratio of 31.33, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.34. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $111.41 and a fifty-two week high of $207.87. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $188.82 and its 200-day moving average is $167.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The insurance provider reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.53. The company had revenue of $16.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.10 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 21.25% and a net margin of 6.28%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 9.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 12.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on Progressive from $256.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Raymond James downgraded shares of Progressive from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 12th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their target price on Progressive from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $184.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 13,110 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.26, for a total value of $2,127,228.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 465,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,570,485.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 1,210 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.26, for a total value of $196,334.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,421,098.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 13,110 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.26, for a total transaction of $2,127,228.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 465,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,570,485.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 58,949 shares of company stock valued at $10,671,740. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Progressive Profile

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.