The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Stock Holdings Lowered by Evercore Wealth Management LLC

Evercore Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 17,811 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,266 shares during the period. Evercore Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,837,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PGR. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Progressive by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,554,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,002,542,000 after acquiring an additional 2,666,449 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Progressive by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 14,935,652 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,378,951,000 after buying an additional 520,742 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,078,831,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Progressive by 2.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,982,841 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $833,410,000 after buying an additional 162,916 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in Progressive by 2.9% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,641,166 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $785,814,000 after buying an additional 156,332 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on PGR shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $202.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Progressive from $244.00 to $243.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Progressive from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Progressive from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, HSBC increased their price target on Progressive from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $215.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $208,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,494,976.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 12,457 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.43, for a total transaction of $2,546,584.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 312,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,978,003.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $208,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,494,976.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 20,818 shares of company stock valued at $4,280,482. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR traded down $0.66 on Friday, hitting $212.53. The stock had a trading volume of 2,113,087 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,338,871. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $209.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.32. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $111.41 and a twelve month high of $217.77. The company has a market capitalization of $124.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.74. Progressive had a return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 8.89%. The business had revenue of $18.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 11.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 4.09%.

Progressive Company 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.