Shell Asset Management Co. Decreases Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Shell Asset Management Co. cut its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 53,124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 3,522 shares during the quarter. Progressive comprises approximately 0.6% of Shell Asset Management Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $12,729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 54.7% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $324.00 to $328.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $288.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Roth Mkm raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $287.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total transaction of $99,421.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $180,891.35. This trade represents a 35.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 4,669 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.70, for a total value of $1,305,919.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,191 shares in the company, valued at $4,248,922.70. This trade represents a 23.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 39,894 shares of company stock worth $11,020,097 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $280.60 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $275.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $261.25. 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 Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $201.34 and a 12 month high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. The business had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.87 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.70%.

Progressive 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.