Toronto Dominion Bank Cuts Stock Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Toronto Dominion Bank reduced its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 70.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 145,072 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 342,556 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank's holdings in Progressive were worth $34,761,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Progressive by 54.7% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in Progressive by 3,000.0% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.94, for a total transaction of $2,799,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 269,566 shares in the company, valued at $75,462,306.04. This represents a 3.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 4,669 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.70, for a total transaction of $1,305,919.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,191 shares in the company, valued at $4,248,922.70. The trade was a 23.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 39,894 shares of company stock worth $11,020,097 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Progressive from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $288.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $324.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $288.24.

Progressive Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE PGR traded down $4.10 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $276.90. 2,505,671 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,640,792. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $275.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $262.42. The company has a market cap of $162.33 billion, a PE ratio of 19.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $201.34 and a twelve month high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. Research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.14%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.70%.

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.