USA Financial Formulas Reduces Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

USA Financial Formulas lowered its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 22.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,971 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 1,137 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas' holdings in Progressive were worth $951,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Davis Capital Management bought a new position in Progressive during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. raised its position in shares of Progressive by 114.1% during the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Progressive in the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in Progressive during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total value of $748,678.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,353 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,618,555.95. This represents a 10.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $164,870.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at $8,137,465.20. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,919 shares of company stock worth $8,222,168. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PGR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $275.24.

Progressive Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE PGR traded up $2.27 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $244.74. 1,127,932 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,514,521. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $251.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $242.00. The stock has a market cap of $143.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.78, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.41. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $166.92 and a 1-year high of $270.62.

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

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.16%. Progressive's payout ratio is 2.91%.

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.