Heartland Bank & Trust Co Sells 1,607 Shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Heartland Bank & Trust Co trimmed its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 36.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,758 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 1,607 shares during the period. Heartland Bank & Trust Co's holdings in Progressive were worth $781,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Progressive by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,400,366 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $12,795,262,000 after purchasing an additional 583,376 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,615,430 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,498,363,000 after purchasing an additional 189,638 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $1,843,045,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Progressive by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,179,529 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,480,677,000 after purchasing an additional 710,684 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Progressive by 34.3% in 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 during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.59, for a total transaction of $2,685,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 248,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at $66,616,766.16. This trade represents a 3.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 400 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.04, for a total transaction of $110,016.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,370 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,084.80. This represents a 4.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 34,157 shares of company stock valued at $9,352,400. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE PGR traded up $0.93 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $261.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,877,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,711,173. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $204.88 and a 52 week high of $292.99. The company has a market capitalization of $153.15 billion, a PE ratio of 17.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.40. 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's 50-day simple moving average is $275.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $264.49.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.87 billion. Research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PGR. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Roth Mkm increased their price target on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $288.88.

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.