Nepc LLC Sells 2,028 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Nepc LLC lessened its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 78,640 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 2,028 shares during the quarter. Progressive makes up approximately 0.5% of Nepc LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Nepc LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $18,843,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $885,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 54.7% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Washington Trust Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 1,066 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,602 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $384,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Monument Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 13,762 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,298,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PGR. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $324.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $288.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Progressive and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $288.24.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR stock traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $277.33. The stock had a trading volume of 1,677,588 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,645,186. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.58 billion, a PE ratio of 19.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $275.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $262.89. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $201.34 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. Analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is presently 2.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total value of $99,421.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 655 shares of the company's stock, valued at $180,891.35. This trade represents a 35.47% 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 firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.94, for a total transaction of $2,799,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 269,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,462,306.04. This represents a 3.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 42,384 shares of company stock worth $11,711,495 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.