Zuckerman Investment Group LLC Trims Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Zuckerman Investment Group LLC decreased its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 13.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 97,378 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 15,126 shares during the period. Progressive makes up 2.4% of Zuckerman Investment Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Zuckerman Investment Group LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $24,239,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 54.7% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in Progressive by 3,000.0% in the fourth 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, Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $317.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $283.71.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR traded up $2.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $275.78. 3,052,599 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,657,216. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $201.34 and a 1 year 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $271.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $257.20. The stock has a market cap of $161.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $2,681,299.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at $115,255,231.44. The trade was a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 4,669 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.70, for a total value of $1,305,919.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,191 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,248,922.70. This trade represents a 23.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,317 shares of company stock worth $14,844,282 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.