The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Sold by Moors & Cabot Inc.

Moors & Cabot Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 19.3% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,431 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 343 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $297,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its holdings in Progressive by 51.1% in the second quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 12,960 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,692,000 after purchasing an additional 4,382 shares during the period. One Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at $541,000. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 29.2% during the 2nd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,559 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,201,000 after buying an additional 2,385 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its position in shares of Progressive by 32.1% in the 2nd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 37,204 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $7,728,000 after buying an additional 9,050 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Progressive by 20.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,467,191 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $304,775,000 after acquiring an additional 247,144 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total value of $9,281,827.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 517,105 shares in the company, valued at $110,665,641.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total transaction of $9,281,827.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 517,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $110,665,641.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 6,122 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.19, for a total transaction of $1,439,833.18. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 32,316 shares in the company, valued at $7,600,400.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 146,704 shares of company stock worth $33,367,408. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on PGR shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Progressive from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays started coverage on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $367.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their price objective on Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $257.18.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR opened at $259.23 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business’s 50 day moving average is $234.16 and its 200-day moving average is $217.06. The stock has a market cap of $151.82 billion, a PE ratio of 26.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $137.59 and a twelve month high of $260.46.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.61. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.57 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 12.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 4.09%.

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.