Valley Wealth Managers Inc. Sells 2,941 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Valley Wealth Managers Inc. cut its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 97,814 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 2,941 shares during the quarter. Progressive makes up about 1.8% of Valley Wealth Managers Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Valley Wealth Managers Inc.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $23,437,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Progressive by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,683,807 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,263,763,000 after purchasing an additional 315,411 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,652,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682,213 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,518,615 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,669,204,000 after purchasing an additional 170,618 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 7.0% in the 3rd 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 worth $1,286,036,000 after purchasing an additional 330,667 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,205,266,000 after purchasing an additional 842,109 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR traded down $1.68 during trading on Friday, hitting $265.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,567,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,505,890. The company has a 50-day moving average of $246.89 and a 200-day moving average of $248.87. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $186.94 and a 12 month high of $270.79. 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 cap of $155.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.42.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is 2.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total transaction of $2,680,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 292,958 shares of the company's stock, valued at $78,539,110.22. This trade represents a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total transaction of $952,416.30. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 39,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,645,222.40. This trade represents a 8.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Progressive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $276.12.

Progressive 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.