Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT Trims Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT cut its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,515 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 95 shares during the quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,082,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in Progressive by 3,000.0% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in 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. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total transaction of $952,416.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 39,040 shares in the company, valued at $9,645,222.40. This trade represents a 8.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,137,465.20. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on PGR. Bank of America raised 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. HSBC cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $276.12.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock opened at $265.99 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $246.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $249.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $155.82 billion, a PE ratio of 18.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $186.94 and a 12-month high of $270.79.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

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

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.