The Progressive Corporation $PGR Shares Sold by Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc.

Key Points

• Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management trimmed its Progressive stake by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 8,677 shares and leaving it with 305,408 shares valued at about $69.5 million.
• Insider selling continued in June, with John Jo Murphy and Steven Broz both selling shares at $200 each; insiders have sold 7,343 shares worth about $1.47 million over the past 90 days.
• Progressive beat EPS estimates in its latest quarter, reporting $4.80 per share versus $4.67 expected, while revenue rose 6.5% year over year; the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share.

Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. lowered its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 305,408 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 8,677 shares during the quarter. Progressive comprises about 3.2% of Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. owned 0.05% of Progressive worth $69,547,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Sepio Capital LP lifted its holdings in Progressive by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Sepio Capital LP now owns 15,259 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,475,000 after purchasing an additional 775 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda America Inc acquired a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $4,486,000. Xponance LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Xponance LLC now owns 124,790 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $28,417,000 after purchasing an additional 5,202 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in Progressive by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 44,960 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $10,238,000 after purchasing an additional 763 shares during the period. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 455,850 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $103,806,000 after purchasing an additional 8,775 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on PGR. Evercore reaffirmed a "negative" rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $218.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $325.00 to $320.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Barclays set a $247.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $238.11.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,183,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 41,290 shares in the company, valued at $8,258,000. This represents a 12.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $231,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 28,668 shares in the company, valued at $5,733,600. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 7,343 shares of company stock worth $1,470,355 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $202.41 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a twelve month low of $189.20 and a twelve month high of $269.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market capitalization of $118.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.29, a PEG ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 0.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $199.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $208.09.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.37 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is currently 2.03%.

Progressive Profile

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.