The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) Insider Sells $1,509,141.12 in Stock

Key Points

• Insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,232 shares of The Progressive Corporation stock at an average price of $242.16, totaling approximately $1.5 million, leading to an 18.29% decrease in his position.
• Progressive reported an EPS of $4.88 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, and a 12.1% year-over-year revenue increase to $20.08 billion.
• The company declared a $0.10 per share dividend with a yield of 0.15% and a payout ratio of 2.25%, demonstrating a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,232 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.16, for a total value of $1,509,141.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,844 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,742,703.04. The trade was a 18.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Progressive Trading Down 0.3%

Progressive stock traded down $0.68 during trading on Friday, hitting $241.37. The company had a trading volume of 916,247 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,270,034. 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 company's 50 day simple moving average is $260.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $266.01. The stock has a market cap of $141.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.37.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, July 4th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a yield of 15.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.25%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Progressive by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 10,688 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,853,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. raised its stake in Progressive by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 87,652 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $23,391,000 after acquiring an additional 1,015 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 16.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,990 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,599,000 after acquiring an additional 832 shares in the last quarter. Solstein Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Progressive by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,798,916 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $479,946,000 after acquiring an additional 22,382 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on PGR shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Progressive from $290.00 to $268.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $297.00 to $287.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $280.00 to $268.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.