Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Sells 142,445 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. reduced its holdings in The Progressive Corporation by 27.4%, now owning approximately 377,903 shares valued at $106.95 million.
• Insider Lori A. Niederst sold 8,063 shares, resulting in a 17.12% decrease in her position, while another insider, John Jo Murphy, sold 2,218 shares, which marked a 4.63% decline in his holdings.
• The Progressive Corporation declared a $0.10 per share dividend to be paid on October 10th, representing a 0.2% yield and a payout ratio of 2.25%.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. decreased its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 27.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 377,903 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 142,445 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned about 0.06% of Progressive worth $106,950,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 114.0% during the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 210.0% during the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 93 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Barclays reduced their price target on Progressive from $287.00 to $281.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Progressive from $290.00 to $268.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Progressive to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Progressive from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $284.18.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR stock traded down $5.25 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $243.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,690,776 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,616,163. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $247.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $265.54. The company has a market capitalization of $142.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.73, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.32. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $228.54 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a return on equity of 35.37% and a net margin of 12.66%.The company had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.48 EPS. Progressive's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.25%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.78, for a total transaction of $556,230.04. Following the sale, the insider owned 45,724 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,466,664.72. This trade represents a 4.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.78, for a total value of $337,299.10. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 31,733 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,958,001.74. This trade represents a 4.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 139,010 shares of company stock worth $34,547,699 over the last 90 days. 0.33% 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.