Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 63,104 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 649,177 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 63,104 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.11% of Progressive worth $103,358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Aubrey Capital Management Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Aubrey Capital Management Ltd now owns 19,800 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,155,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $359,000. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at about $726,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its stake in Progressive by 51.8% during the fourth quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 10,251 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,633,000 after purchasing an additional 3,499 shares during the period. Finally, Van Cleef Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Progressive by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc now owns 832,991 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $132,679,000 after purchasing an additional 21,273 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total transaction of $5,645,965.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,189 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Progressive news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total transaction of $5,645,965.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,189 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total value of $1,603,843.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,342 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,128,485.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,139 shares of company stock valued at $7,458,139 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Trading Down 1.0 %

PGR traded down $2.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $208.03. 2,628,749 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,796,081. The company's fifty day moving average price is $202.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $177.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.84 billion, a PE ratio of 21.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $111.41 and a fifty-two week high of $216.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.36.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 11.34 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.19%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is 4.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. HSBC raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $232.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $211.88.

Progressive 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.