Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Shares Gap Down on Insider Selling

The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) shares gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $283.28, but opened at $276.50. Progressive shares last traded at $272.08, with a volume of 679,646 shares trading hands.

Specifically, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,696 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total transaction of $479,391.36. Following the sale, the executive now directly owns 26,697 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,546,174.02. The trade was a 5.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total transaction of $435,861.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 268,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,759,663.84. The trade was a 0.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $318.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $281.06.

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Progressive Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $261.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $255.01.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is currently 2.78%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 98.2% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $189,000 after buying an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 90.9% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,813 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,983,000 after buying an additional 3,720 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 7.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,067,924 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,286,036,000 after buying an additional 330,667 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted 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 valued at $103,990,000 after purchasing an additional 415,628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC lifted 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 valued at $2,849,000 after purchasing an additional 3,534 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Company 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.