Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Sells 33,284 Shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Key Points

• Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB reduced its stake in The Progressive Corporation by 3.8%, owning 836,704 shares after selling 33,284 shares in Q1.
• Insiders, including CFO John P. Sauerland, have sold considerable amounts of stock recently, indicating a 4.20% decrease in the CFO's ownership after selling 10,000 shares.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on PGR, with nine rating it as a hold and nine as a buy, reflecting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $286.88.

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ trimmed its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 3.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 836,704 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 33,284 shares during the quarter. Progressive comprises approximately 1.2% of Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ's holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ owned about 0.14% of Progressive worth $236,796,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Integrated Advisors Network LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 1.0% during the first quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 3,808 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Pines Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 3.0% in the first quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,287 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,940 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $549,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Financial Group boosted its stake in Progressive by 1.1% in the first quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 3,659 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,036,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kesler Norman & Wride LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $885,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.79, for a total transaction of $2,637,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 228,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $60,150,450.96. This represents a 4.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,490 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.67, for a total transaction of $691,398.30. Following the sale, the director owned 12,429 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,451,160.43. This represents a 16.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,972 shares of company stock valued at $9,078,681 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Progressive from $290.00 to $280.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $280.00 to $268.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Progressive from $288.00 to $281.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $286.88.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR traded down $9.43 during trading on Monday, hitting $240.67. 5,544,388 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,270,767. The company has a market capitalization of $141.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.34. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $264.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $266.28. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $208.13 and a 1-year high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a return on equity of 35.37% and a net margin of 12.66%. The firm had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.39 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.48 EPS. The business's revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 4th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. Progressive's payout ratio is 2.25%.

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.