Altfest L J & Co. Inc. Lowers Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Altfest L J & Co. Inc. lowered its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 24.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,966 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 963 shares during the period. Altfest L J & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $472,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 109.1% in the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 207 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. DecisionPoint Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive during the second quarter worth $35,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new position in Progressive in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on PGR shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Progressive from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $144.00 to $176.00 in a report on Monday, December 18th. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday, December 28th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $164.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on Progressive from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $159.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $188.00 to $207.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $184.50.

Progressive Stock Performance

Progressive stock traded up $0.84 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $206.99. 840,696 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,468,039. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $111.41 and a 12-month high of $208.19. The stock has a market cap of $121.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.34. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $188.82 and its 200 day simple 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The insurance provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.53. Progressive had a return on equity of 21.25% and a net margin of 6.28%. The company had revenue of $16.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.10 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 9.82 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.92%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.24, for a total value of $93,251.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,725,350.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Progressive news, 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 transaction of $5,645,965.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,859.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.24, for a total value of $93,251.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 27,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,725,350.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 58,949 shares of company stock worth $10,671,740 over the last 90 days. Company 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.