New Vernon Investment Management LLC Sells 31,521 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

New Vernon Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 89.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,525 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 31,521 shares during the quarter. Progressive makes up about 0.5% of New Vernon Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. New Vernon Investment Management LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $845,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Progressive by 98.2% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $189,000 after buying an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Progressive by 2,262.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 433,999 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $103,990,000 after acquiring an additional 415,628 shares during the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,849,000 after acquiring an additional 3,534 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Progressive by 30.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,069,697 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $255,882,000 after acquiring an additional 249,958 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the third quarter worth $35,253,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total transaction of $952,416.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,645,222.40. This represents a 8.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total value of $99,421.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 655 shares of the company's stock, valued at $180,891.35. This represents a 35.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 43,749 shares of company stock valued at $11,786,613 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE:PGR traded up $4.59 on Monday, reaching $269.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,104,082 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,633,340. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $201.34 and a 1-year high of $292.99. 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 firm has a market cap of $158.05 billion, a PE ratio of 18.72, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The business's 50-day moving average price is $274.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $258.36.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.87 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is currently 2.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays boosted their target price on Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Bank of America upgraded Progressive from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $312.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a "market perform" rating and set a $288.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $286.65.

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.