Van Cleef Asset Management Inc Sells 49,598 Shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Van Cleef Asset Management Inc decreased its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 6.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 740,856 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 49,598 shares during the quarter. Progressive accounts for approximately 23.7% of Van Cleef Asset Management Inc's holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc owned approximately 0.13% of Progressive worth $209,670,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $813,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $269,000. Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its position in shares of Progressive by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 11,040 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,645,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 54.1% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,371 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $568,000 after buying an additional 832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 30,642 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $7,342,000 after buying an additional 319 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.37, for a total transaction of $2,753,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 238,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,544,668.88. This represents a 4.03% 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 Stuart B. Burgdoerfer sold 3,681 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total transaction of $958,642.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 12,217 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,181,673.31. This trade represents a 23.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 42,705 shares of company stock valued at $11,450,948. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE PGR traded down $4.61 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $244.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,182,460 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,809,481. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $272.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $265.57. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $143.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.51, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.37. The Progressive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $207.50 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. Equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, July 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a yield of 0.15%. Progressive's payout ratio is presently 2.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Progressive from $291.00 to $280.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America raised shares of Progressive from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $312.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Progressive from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target 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. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $285.41.

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.