The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Director Devin C. Johnson Sells 1,000 Shares

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Progressive Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:PGR traded up $4.76 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $214.51. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,643,518 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,597,054. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.96, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.35. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $199.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.57. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $111.41 and a fifty-two week high of $215.18.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 8.89%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 11.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Progressive from $228.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group raised their target price on Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Progressive from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Progressive from $232.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Progressive from $202.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $211.88.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,078,831,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $840,885,000. Viking Global Investors LP raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 412.0% in the fourth quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 5,863,559 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $933,948,000 after purchasing an additional 4,718,237 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 14.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,554,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,002,542,000 after purchasing an additional 2,666,449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 25.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,721,345 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $871,826,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,665 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Company 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.