The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Sold by Means Investment CO. Inc.

Means Investment CO. Inc. lowered its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,192 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 154 shares during the quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $248,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aviance Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,628,000. TCW Group Inc. bought a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,988,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,090,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 66.4% in the first quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,814 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,409,000 after buying an additional 2,719 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 90.4% during the 1st quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 21,056 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,354,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 3,050 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.81, for a total value of $639,920.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,453 shares in the company, valued at $6,808,963.93. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 3,050 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.81, for a total transaction of $639,920.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,808,963.93. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 9,512 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.50, for a total value of $2,259,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 45,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,874,412.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 110,319 shares of company stock worth $23,671,517. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 0.8 %

Progressive stock opened at $237.74 on Tuesday. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $129.31 and a 12 month high of $238.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market cap of $139.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.35. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $214.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $206.91.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company posted $0.57 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 12.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.17%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 4.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PGR. Bank of America decreased their target price on Progressive from $296.00 to $294.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 15th. HSBC upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $230.00 to $262.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Progressive from $210.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Progressive from $243.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.41.

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.