Bailard Inc. Lowers Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Bailard Inc. decreased its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 14,869 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 502 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $3,563,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $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 worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its stake in Progressive by 1,650.0% during the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Roth Mkm increased their price target on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.59.

Progressive Trading Up 1.2 %

PGR opened at $282.02 on Monday. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $250.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $251.23. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $186.94 and a one year high of $282.40. The stock has a market cap of $165.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total value of $2,386,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,530,756.28. This represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total value of $952,416.30. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 39,040 shares in the company, valued at $9,645,222.40. The trade was a 8.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,361 shares of company stock valued at $11,302,675 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.