Blue Trust Inc. Sells 2,481 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Blue Trust Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 43.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,241 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 2,481 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $776,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 54.7% during 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 last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky increased 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 last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares in the company, valued at $964,042.20. This represents a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $114,691,485.60. The trade was a 1.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com raised Progressive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $276.12.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR traded down $1.79 on Thursday, reaching $267.83. The stock had a trading volume of 1,933,537 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,504,013. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $246.11 and a 200-day moving average of $248.36. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $186.94 and a fifty-two week high of $270.79. The company has a market capitalization of $156.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.43 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.15%. 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.