The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Sold by Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC

Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,530 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 290 shares during the period. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,085,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 54.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. This represents a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 962 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total transaction of $234,044.98. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,463,329.23. The trade was a 2.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,317 shares of company stock valued at $14,844,282 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR stock opened at $270.69 on Thursday. 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 market cap of $158.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $270.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $256.95. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $201.34 and a 52 week high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PGR. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $281.41.

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.