Davidson Investment Advisors Sells 437 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Davidson Investment Advisors decreased its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 101,897 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 437 shares during the period. Progressive comprises 1.2% of Davidson Investment Advisors’ portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Davidson Investment Advisors’ holdings in Progressive were worth $24,415,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,683,807 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,263,763,000 after purchasing an additional 315,411 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 13.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,652,235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,682,213 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,518,615 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,669,204,000 after acquiring an additional 170,618 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 7.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,067,924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,286,036,000 after acquiring an additional 330,667 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,205,266,000 after buying an additional 842,109 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $2,194,878.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,691,485.60. This represents a 1.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 3,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.06, for a total value of $952,416.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 39,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,645,222.40. This represents a 8.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on PGR. HSBC downgraded shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.71.

Progressive Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:PGR opened at $262.71 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $153.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.24, a PEG ratio of 0.64 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $244.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $247.54. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $186.94 and a 12-month high of $270.62.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. Equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.44 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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