Financial Counselors Inc. reduced its position in shares of 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 Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,116 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 1,351 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $12,202,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 114.0% in the 1st quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in Progressive in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Progressive in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
PGR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America raised Progressive from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $312.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Progressive from $297.00 to $287.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Progressive from $291.00 to $280.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Progressive from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $285.41.
View Our Latest Analysis on PGR
Progressive Stock Down 0.9%
Shares of NYSE PGR traded down $2.35 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $248.06. The stock had a trading volume of 2,677,104 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,798,567. The company has a market capitalization of $145.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.37. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $272.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $265.51. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $207.50 and a 52 week high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29.
Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 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 business had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.87 billion. Analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Progressive Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 4th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a yield of 0.15%. Progressive's payout ratio is currently 2.70%.
Insider Activity
In other Progressive news, Director Stuart B. Burgdoerfer sold 3,681 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total transaction of $958,642.83. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 12,217 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,181,673.31. This represents a 23.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,490 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.67, for a total value of $691,398.30. Following the sale, the director directly owned 12,429 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,451,160.43. The trade was a 16.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 42,705 shares of company stock valued at $11,450,948. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.
Progressive Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
See Also

Before you consider Progressive, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Progressive wasn't on the list.
While Progressive currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Need to stretch out your 401K or Roth IRA plan? Use these time-tested investing strategies to grow the monthly retirement income that your stock portfolio generates.
Get This Free Report
Like this article? Share it with a colleague.
Link copied to clipboard.