Insider Selling: The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) Insider Sells 1,267 Shares of Stock

The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) insider Steven Broz sold 1,267 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.54, for a total transaction of $313,633.18. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 26,354 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,523,669.16. This represents a 4.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Steven Broz also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, June 20th, Steven Broz sold 1,267 shares of Progressive stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.38, for a total transaction of $329,901.46.
• On Friday, May 23rd, Steven Broz sold 1,267 shares of Progressive stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.81, for a total transaction of $351,985.27.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR stock traded down $0.98 on Monday, hitting $245.43. 1,977,538 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,834,320. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $208.13 and a 1-year high of $292.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market cap of $143.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $267.67 and a 200-day moving average of $266.09.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released 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. Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The company had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.48 EPS. The company's revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 4th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.25%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Progressive by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,022,956 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $15,289,037,000 after purchasing an additional 622,590 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 1.3% during the 4th 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 last quarter. GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 61.4% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 8,346,133 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,362,039,000 after purchasing an additional 3,174,632 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 15.2% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,263,157 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,338,556,000 after purchasing an additional 1,091,828 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $1,843,045,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. 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 decreased their target price on shares of Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Progressive from $280.00 to $268.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $280.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $286.88.

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.

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