The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Sold by Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia lessened its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 524,199 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 13,884 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia owned 0.09% of Progressive worth $125,674,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $55,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 29.2% during the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,444 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $620,000 after buying an additional 552 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the third quarter valued at $234,000. MML Investors Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 47,631 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $12,087,000 after buying an additional 396 shares during the period. Finally, Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc lifted its stake in Progressive by 1,480.9% during the 3rd quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 743 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $189,000 after acquiring an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Progressive from $317.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $283.71.

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Progressive Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:PGR traded up $2.60 during trading on Friday, hitting $275.78. 3,052,599 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,646,373. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $271.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $257.23. 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 current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $161.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.15, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 585 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $142,324.65. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at $969,024.07. This trade represents a 12.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.94, for a total value of $2,759,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 258,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $71,199,142.56. This represents a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,317 shares of company stock valued at $14,844,282 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

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.