The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Sold by Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC

Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 32.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 89,258 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 42,867 shares during the period. Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $21,387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Progressive by 54.7% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its position in Progressive by 3,000.0% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its position in Progressive by 114.1% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Progressive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays raised their target price on Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen raised their target price on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Bank of America raised their target price on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Progressive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $275.88.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR traded up $5.78 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $269.71. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,223,067 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,521,833. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $245.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $248.21. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $186.94 and a 1 year high of $270.79. The company has a market cap of $158.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.73, a PEG ratio of 0.66 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 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.44 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were 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 was Friday, January 10th. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $78,539,110.22. The trade was a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $164,870.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,137,465.20. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock valued at $13,983,575 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.