CWA Asset Management Group LLC Sells 1,154 Shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC reduced its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 30.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,610 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 1,154 shares during the quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $739,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Progressive by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,400,366 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $12,795,262,000 after purchasing an additional 583,376 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,615,430 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,498,363,000 after purchasing an additional 189,638 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,843,045,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,179,529 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,480,677,000 after buying an additional 710,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 34.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,451,602,000 after buying an additional 1,547,677 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.94, for a total value of $2,759,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 258,024 shares in the company, valued at $71,199,142.56. The trade was a 3.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,267 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.81, for a total transaction of $351,985.27. Following the sale, the insider now owns 28,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,025,375.28. This trade represents a 4.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,157 shares of company stock worth $9,352,400. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Trading Up 0.4%

Progressive stock traded up $0.93 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $261.26. The stock had a trading volume of 8,877,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,711,173. The stock has a market cap of $153.15 billion, a PE ratio of 17.62, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.40. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $204.88 and a 52 week high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $275.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $264.47.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 33.50%. Analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PGR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $330.00 price target on shares of Progressive and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Progressive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $288.88.

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.