Insider Selling: Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Insider Sells $1,535,979.31 in Stock

Key Points

• Progressive insider Lori Niederst sold 7,339 shares for approximately $1.54 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, reducing her direct holdings by 14.71% to 42,567 shares.
• PGR shares fell 2.7% to $203.93, while the company reported quarterly earnings of $5.67 per share and revenue of $23.61 billion, beating analyst expectations.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with a $233.16 average price target; Progressive also declared a $0.10 quarterly dividend, yielding approximately 0.2%.

The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) insider Lori Niederst sold 7,339 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.29, for a total transaction of $1,535,979.31. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,567 shares in the company, valued at $8,908,847.43. The trade was a 14.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Progressive Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of PGR stock traded down $5.67 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $203.93. 1,331,782 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,193,365. The stock has a market cap of $118.56 billion, a PE ratio of 10.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.27. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $214.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $206.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $189.20 and a 12 month high of $254.93.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.64 by $1.03. The company had revenue of $23.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.49 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 32.92%. Progressive's revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.40 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.57 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is presently 2.01%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PGR. Klingman & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 2,927 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $667,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Revisor Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,902 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $395,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Pines Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $319,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 18,736 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $4,267,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Phillips Wealth Planners LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 1,916 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $436,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised Progressive from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $308.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. William Blair reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $205.00 to $198.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $233.16.

About Progressive

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.

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