The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Sold by Polar Capital Holdings Plc

Polar Capital Holdings Plc reduced its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 613,535 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 12,298 shares during the period. Progressive accounts for approximately 0.8% of Polar Capital Holdings Plc's holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Polar Capital Holdings Plc owned about 0.10% of Progressive worth $147,009,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in shares of Progressive by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 1,210 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $290,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,552 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $372,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $201,000. BCS Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $203,000. Finally, Pines Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $295,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $288.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $288.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.59, for a total transaction of $2,685,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 248,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,616,766.16. This trade represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.04, for a total transaction of $110,016.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,370 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,084.80. This represents a 4.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 39,894 shares of company stock valued at $11,020,097 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR traded down $1.21 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $287.03. 470,189 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,632,287. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $201.34 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The company's 50-day moving average price is $275.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $262.13. The company has a market cap of $168.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. On average, analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.70%.

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.