Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 63,104 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. cut its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 649,177 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 63,104 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.11% of Progressive worth $103,358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 143.6% in 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. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now 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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now 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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $5,645,965.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,139 shares of company stock valued at $7,458,139 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Progressive Trading Down 1.0 %

Progressive stock traded down $2.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $208.03. 2,628,749 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,796,081. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $111.41 and a 12 month high of $216.21. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $202.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $177.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.29, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The firm had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 11.34 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $202.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Bank of America reduced their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $161.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $211.88.

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.