Cardinal Strategic Wealth Guidance Sells 1,605 Shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Cardinal Strategic Wealth Guidance reduced its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 62.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 950 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 1,605 shares during the period. Cardinal Strategic Wealth Guidance's holdings in Progressive were worth $269,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PGR. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 114.0% in the 1st quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,267 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.38, for a total value of $329,901.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 27,621 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,191,955.98. This represents a 4.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.37, for a total transaction of $2,753,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 238,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,544,668.88. This trade represents a 4.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 42,705 shares of company stock valued at $11,450,948. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR traded up $4.13 on Wednesday, hitting $246.33. 6,060,154 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,840,739. The company's 50 day moving average price is $269.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $265.77. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $208.13 and a one year high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.61, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.37.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 33.50%. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. Research analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, July 4th were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $288.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $291.00 to $280.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Progressive from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $312.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $284.82.

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.