Financial Counselors Inc. Sells 1,351 Shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Financial Counselors Inc. cut its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 3.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 43,116 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 1,351 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $12,202,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Callan Capital LLC acquired a new position in Progressive during the first quarter worth $254,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 4.7% in the first quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 11,298 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,197,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 239.7% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 197 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the first quarter valued at about $92,000. Finally, Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the first quarter valued at about $226,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Progressive from $288.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group lowered their target price on Progressive from $291.00 to $280.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $285.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, Director Stuart B. Burgdoerfer sold 3,681 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total value of $958,642.83. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 12,217 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,181,673.31. This trade represents a 23.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.37, for a total value of $2,753,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 238,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,544,668.88. The trade was a 4.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 42,705 shares of company stock valued at $11,450,948 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR traded down $1.29 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $250.35. The stock had a trading volume of 2,533,874 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,798,782. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $273.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $265.61. The firm has a market cap of $146.76 billion, a PE ratio of 16.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.37. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $207.50 and a one year high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.50% and a net margin of 11.10%. The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 4th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a yield of 0.15%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is currently 2.70%.

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.