Haverford Trust Co Reduces Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Haverford Trust Co lowered its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 56.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,628 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 9,722 shares during the quarter. Haverford Trust Co's holdings in Progressive were worth $1,215,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Giverny Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in Progressive by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Giverny Capital Inc. now owns 501,431 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $69,849,000 after buying an additional 14,022 shares during the period. Invesco LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 3,537 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $563,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 168,187 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $26,788,000 after acquiring an additional 4,983 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Progressive by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 210,460 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $33,522,000 after acquiring an additional 4,443 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network purchased a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth $295,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE PGR traded up $2.21 on Friday, reaching $209.22. 2,003,959 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,582,641. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $111.41 and a 12 month high of $217.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.32. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $208.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $183.57. The company has a market cap of $122.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.41, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.34.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The company had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 11.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.19%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is currently 4.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total transaction of $1,603,843.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,342 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,128,485.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total value of $5,645,965.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 46,500 shares of company stock valued at $8,983,706. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PGR shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Progressive from $234.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $232.00 to $238.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Progressive from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Progressive from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, HSBC raised their price target on Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $214.88.

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.

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