Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Insider Steven Broz Sells 1,225 Shares of Stock

The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) insider Steven Broz sold 1,225 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.29, for a total transaction of $250,255.25. Following the sale, the insider owned 30,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,135,237.28. This represents a 3.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Steven Broz also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, August 20th, Steven Broz sold 1,225 shares of Progressive stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.40, for a total transaction of $268,765.00.

Progressive Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of PGR traded up $2.04 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $207.54. 610,275 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,093,817. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $189.20 and a 52-week high of $248.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $214.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $208.37. The firm has a market cap of $120.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.64 by $1.03. The company had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.49 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.Progressive’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.40 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.01%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PGR. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth $10,496,271,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.5% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,526,959 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,794,814,000 after buying an additional 656,249 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Progressive by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,921,724 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,398,123,000 after acquiring an additional 1,217,527 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,682,342,000. Finally, GQG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,538,570,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on PGR shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $198.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $308.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. HSBC raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $214.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Monday, September 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $234.89.

About Progressive

Progressive Corporation, founded in 1937 and headquartered in Mayfield Village, Ohio, is an insurance company that primarily serves customers in the United States. The company is best known for its personal and commercial auto insurance businesses and distributes products through independent agents, direct channels and digital platforms.

Progressive offers a broad range of insurance products, including coverage for automobiles, motorcycles, boats, recreational vehicles, homes and renters.