Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Sells 25,032 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 93.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,801 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 25,032 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $287,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. abrdn plc raised its position in shares of Progressive by 43.6% during the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 361,391 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $57,562,000 after purchasing an additional 109,778 shares during the period. Geneva Partners LLC purchased a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at $734,000. Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in Progressive by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 13,095 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,086,000 after acquiring an additional 1,442 shares in the last quarter. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at $2,164,000. Finally, Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 15,173 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,417,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Roth Mkm raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Citigroup raised their target price 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. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Progressive from $279.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $232.00 to $238.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $211.88.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $214.02 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $125.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.91, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $111.41 and a 12 month high of $216.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $201.17 and its 200 day moving average is $176.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The insurance provider reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $18.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.88 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. Research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 11.22 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.19%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 4.09%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total transaction of $5,645,965.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,859.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Progressive news, insider Karen Bailo sold 8,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.49, for a total value of $1,603,843.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,128,485.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 29,675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total transaction of $5,645,965.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,889,859.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 39,139 shares of company stock worth $7,458,139. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.