Eastern Bank Sells 7,027 Shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Eastern Bank decreased its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 31.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,618 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 7,027 shares during the period. Eastern Bank's holdings in Progressive were worth $4,420,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Integrated Advisors Network LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 3,808 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,078,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Pines Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3.0% during the first quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,287 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $335,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.0% during the first quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,940 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $549,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Financial Group grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.1% during the first quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 3,659 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,036,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.1% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $545,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Trading Down 0.4%

PGR traded down $1.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $240.98. 3,201,172 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,286,200. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $208.13 and a 12-month high of $292.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $260.94 and a 200 day moving average of $266.01.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.45. The business had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.39 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.48 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, July 4th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a yield of 15.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is 2.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PGR. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $297.00 to $287.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 7th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Progressive from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $275.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $286.88.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $552,814.32. Following the sale, the insider owned 47,942 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,949,064.08. This trade represents a 4.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 16,664 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $4,153,335.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 228,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,832,701.76. The trade was a 6.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 104,250 shares of company stock worth $26,332,348 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.