Argent Trust Co Sells 52 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Argent Trust Co reduced its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,647 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 52 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Progressive were worth $395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in shares of Progressive by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 293,372 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $70,295,000 after purchasing an additional 2,660 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Progressive by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 5,239 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,255,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. grew its stake in Progressive by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 11,414 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,735,000 after buying an additional 2,890 shares in the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 436.5% in the 4th quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 8,177 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,959,000 after buying an additional 6,653 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DRW Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $1,271,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $275.78 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $161.67 billion, a PE ratio of 19.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $271.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $257.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $201.34 and a 12-month high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 962 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $234,044.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,463,329.23. This represents a 2.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total transaction of $435,861.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 268,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,759,663.84. This represents a 0.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,317 shares of company stock valued at $14,844,282 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on PGR shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $317.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Progressive from $300.00 to $288.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Raymond James raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $283.71.

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.