The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) Shares Sold by Ameritas Advisory Services LLC

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC trimmed its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 48.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,727 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 1,638 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $478,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,843,045,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 39,285.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,046,037 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $862,059,000 after buying an additional 3,038,303 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 67.6% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,171,501 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,239,143,000 after buying an additional 2,085,833 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $408,416,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,451,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,547,677 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Progressive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, June 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $288.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays upped their price target on Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $288.88.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE:PGR traded up $2.50 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $260.30. 2,685,585 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,780,105. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $207.50 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $274.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $265.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a market cap of $152.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.37.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 33.50% and a net margin of 11.10%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 4th will be given 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.70%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,490 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.67, for a total transaction of $691,398.30. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 12,429 shares in the company, valued at $3,451,160.43. This represents a 16.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.37, for a total value of $2,753,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 238,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,544,668.88. The trade was a 4.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 42,705 shares of company stock valued at $11,450,948 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.