Cerity Partners LLC Sells 14,191 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Cerity Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 6.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 192,558 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 14,191 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $47,552,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.4% in the second quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 87,760 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $23,420,000 after buying an additional 1,192 shares in the last quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at about $306,000. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in Progressive by 40.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 16,840 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,159,000 after purchasing an additional 4,865 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 91.7% during the 3rd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 11,710 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,892,000 after purchasing an additional 5,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wakefield Asset Management LLLP raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 199.0% in the second quarter. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP now owns 9,411 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,511,000 after purchasing an additional 6,263 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.48, for a total transaction of $1,142,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 223,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,956,523.52. This represents a 2.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,344 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.80, for a total value of $302,131.20. Following the transaction, the insider owned 26,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,924,379.20. The trade was a 4.85% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,034 shares of company stock worth $2,047,481. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $209.33 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $122.75 billion, a PE ratio of 11.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $199.90 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $222.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $236.69.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by ($0.59). The company had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.64 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 33.88%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.58 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd will be given 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 Friday, January 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PGR. Citigroup cut their target price on Progressive from $301.38 to $300.60 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. HSBC set a $259.00 target price on shares of Progressive and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, September 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $260.27.

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.