Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Buys 1,439 Shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 10.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,761 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,439 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $4,460,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at $1,843,045,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR traded down $0.79 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $246.48. 2,966,465 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,838,708. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $267.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $265.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.37. The Progressive Corporation has a twelve month low of $208.13 and a twelve month high of $292.99.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.79, for a total value of $2,637,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 228,024 shares in the company, valued at $60,150,450.96. The trade was a 4.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Stuart B. Burgdoerfer sold 3,681 shares of the firm's 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,181,673.31. This represents a 23.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 42,705 shares of company stock worth $11,450,948. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PGR. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Progressive from $297.00 to $287.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Progressive from $288.00 to $281.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $287.63.

Progressive Company 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.