The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Sold by Leavell Investment Management Inc.

Leavell Investment Management Inc. reduced its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 14.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,660 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 282 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $398,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Portfolio Design Labs LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 128.9% in the 4th quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC now owns 4,002 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $959,000 after purchasing an additional 2,254 shares during the period. Cardinal Strategic Wealth Guidance lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 168.9% in the 4th quarter. Cardinal Strategic Wealth Guidance now owns 2,555 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $612,000 after purchasing an additional 1,605 shares during the period. New Republic Capital LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. New Republic Capital LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. JSF Financial LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. JSF Financial LLC now owns 3,799 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $910,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 54.7% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total value of $2,680,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,539,110.22. This represents a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total transaction of $952,416.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,040 shares in the company, valued at $9,645,222.40. The trade was a 8.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of PGR stock opened at $262.02 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $244.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $246.64. 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 cap of $153.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.20, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.42. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $182.23 and a twelve month high of $270.62.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. HSBC lowered shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $261.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.71.

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.