American Century Companies Inc. Cuts Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

American Century Companies Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,440,265 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 152,697 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.42% of Progressive worth $584,712,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted 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 valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on PGR shares. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Progressive from $318.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Progressive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $281.06.

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Progressive Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Progressive stock traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $274.14. 1,001,679 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,431,730. The company has a market cap of $160.70 billion, a PE ratio of 19.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $262.72 and a 200-day moving average of $255.19. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $201.34 and a 12 month 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.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at $67,530,756.28. The trade was a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares in the company, valued at $964,042.20. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 65,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,767,455. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.