Snowden Capital Advisors LLC Sells 1,716 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Snowden Capital Advisors LLC decreased its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 15.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,715 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 1,716 shares during the period. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $2,328,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 54.7% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in Progressive by 3,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.94, for a total value of $2,799,400.00. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total value of $99,421.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 655 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $180,891.35. This represents a 35.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 39,894 shares of company stock valued at $11,020,097. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on PGR shares. Bank of America raised shares of 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued 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 target price on shares of Progressive and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Progressive from $324.00 to $328.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $288.24.

Progressive Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE:PGR traded up $0.86 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $277.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 448,738 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,636,002. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $275.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $262.66. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $201.34 and a twelve month high of $292.99. 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 market cap of $162.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. On average, equities analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given 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 payout ratio is 2.70%.

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.