Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. Sells 8,677 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. decreased its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 305,408 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 8,677 shares during the period. Progressive comprises about 3.2% of Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $69,547,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dagco Inc. acquired a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. increased its holdings in Progressive by 106.6% in the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. acquired a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank increased its holdings in Progressive by 60.4% in the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 154 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,183,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 41,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,258,000. This represents a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 270 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total value of $55,755.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,227. This represents a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 7,343 shares of company stock valued at $1,470,355 over the last 90 days. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Progressive Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $202.41 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.29, a PEG ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $199.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $208.09. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $189.20 and a 12-month high of $269.84.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.51 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The company’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.37 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on Progressive from $218.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Argus upgraded Progressive to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $238.11.

Progressive Profile

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.