The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Holdings Reduced by Foster & Motley Inc.

Foster & Motley Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 22.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,793 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,650 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $923,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in Progressive by 143.6% during the 4th 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. Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $48,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PGR. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $171.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Progressive from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $228.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $211.88.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

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

Progressive Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $214.02 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $125.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.91, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $201.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.36. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $111.41 and a 52 week high of $216.21.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 11.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was 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 is currently 4.09%.

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.