The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) CEO Susan Patricia Griffith Sells 9,066 Shares

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $2,194,878.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at $114,691,485.60. The trade was a 1.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $239.55 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $251.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $240.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.41. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $162.35 and a fifty-two week high of $270.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. The company had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.95 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.91%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 13.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,652,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682,213 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,205,266,000 after buying an additional 842,109 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 75.3% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,494,084 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $379,139,000 after buying an additional 641,943 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 29,701.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 596,331 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $151,325,000 after acquiring an additional 594,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 206.8% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 875,660 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $222,207,000 after acquiring an additional 590,235 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $261.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Roth Mkm raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.00.

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.