The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) Shares Sold by Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. cut its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 3.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 62,233 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 1,921 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $17,613,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in Progressive by 2.7% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 68,644 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $19,426,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 36.4% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 126,826 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $35,893,000 after acquiring an additional 33,864 shares during the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH lifted its position in Progressive by 498.5% in the first quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 5,057 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,431,000 after purchasing an additional 4,212 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Progressive in the first quarter worth $3,141,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 16.5% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 93,463 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $26,451,000 after buying an additional 13,231 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $288.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group raised their price target on Progressive from $285.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $285.94.

Progressive Stock Performance

Progressive stock traded down $2.15 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $251.39. 4,960,466 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,797,767. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $273.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $265.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.37. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $207.50 and a 1 year high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 4th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive's payout ratio is 2.70%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.79, for a total value of $2,637,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 228,024 shares in the company, valued at $60,150,450.96. This represents a 4.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,267 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.38, for a total value of $329,901.46. Following the transaction, the insider owned 27,621 shares in the company, valued at $7,191,955.98. This represents a 4.39% 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. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Company 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.