The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio reduced its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 286,614 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 12,257 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Progressive were worth $68,676,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 54.7% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in Progressive by 3,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $276.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $201.34 and a one year high of $292.99. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $275.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $262.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.23, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. The business had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.87 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.04, for a total value of $110,016.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,370 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,302,084.80. This trade represents a 4.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.59, for a total transaction of $2,685,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 248,024 shares in the company, valued at $66,616,766.16. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 39,894 shares of company stock valued at $11,020,097 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Progressive and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $324.00 to $328.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $288.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. 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, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $288.24.

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.

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