Burney Co. Reduces Stock Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Burney Co. lessened its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 37.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,747 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 4,015 shares during the period. Burney Co.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,617,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Davis Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the third quarter worth $25,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 114.1% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,137,465.20. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total transaction of $2,680,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares in the company, valued at $78,539,110.22. This represents a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,919 shares of company stock valued at $8,222,168 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR traded down $1.75 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $243.79. 1,967,879 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,543,944. The stock has a market cap of $142.82 billion, a PE ratio of 17.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.41. The business's fifty day moving average is $250.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $242.03. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $166.92 and a one year high of $270.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The business had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.95 billion. As a group, analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 13.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is presently 2.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Progressive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $299.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Raymond James raised Progressive from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $275.24.

Progressive Profile

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.