Welch & Forbes LLC Cuts Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Welch & Forbes LLC decreased its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,295 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 509 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $6,896,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 143.6% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 190 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total value of $5,645,965.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total value of $5,645,965.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 39,139 shares of company stock valued at $7,458,139. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Up 0.0 %

Progressive stock traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $215.53. 2,706,155 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,609,659. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $111.41 and a 1-year high of $216.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $205.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $180.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $126.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.34.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 8.89%. The business had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 11.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 4.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PGR shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $232.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $240.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, April 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Progressive from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. TD Cowen started coverage on Progressive in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $174.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $279.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $211.88.

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.