Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Decreases Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lowered its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 76,210 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 3,109 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $18,261,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mount Lucas Management LP boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP now owns 2,493 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $633,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Progressive during the third quarter worth about $337,000. Claro Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 117.2% in the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 2,952 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $749,000 after purchasing an additional 1,593 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in shares of Progressive by 26.2% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 139,782 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,471,000 after purchasing an additional 29,050 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AMG National Trust Bank purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $203,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at $67,530,756.28. This trade represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,227 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.00, for a total transaction of $344,787.00. Following the sale, the executive now directly owns 28,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,978,433. This trade represents a 4.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 62,257 shares of company stock valued at $15,752,781. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $291.69 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $259.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $254.36. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $201.34 and a twelve month high of $292.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $170.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.26, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on PGR shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $333.00 to $318.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $281.76.

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.