John Jo Murphy Sells 5,916 Shares of Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Stock

The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,183,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 41,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,258,000. This trade represents a 12.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Progressive Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $199.80 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $189.20 and a 52 week high of $271.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $198.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $208.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.75 billion, a PE ratio of 10.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 0.28.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The firm had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.37 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Argus upgraded Progressive to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings lowered Progressive from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.11.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Dagco Inc. bought a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 235.1% during the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Ameriflex Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 106.6% during the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. bought a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Progressive

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.