PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Sells 45,266 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lessened its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 13.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 302,637 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 45,266 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $72,515,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Progressive by 54.7% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 1,650.0% in the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PGR shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Raymond James upgraded Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.59.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the firm’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 $164,870.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,137,465.20. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $2,194,878.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,691,485.60. This represents a 1.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $14,102,075 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $279.77 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $164.00 billion, a PE ratio of 19.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The company’s fifty day moving average is $254.23 and its 200-day moving average is $252.70. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $194.49 and a 52 week high of $287.49.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. Equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

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.