Community Trust & Investment Co. Sells 674 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Community Trust & Investment Co. reduced its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 40.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,011 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 674 shares during the quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Davis Capital Management purchased a new stake in Progressive during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 114.1% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Progressive during the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $239.57 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $166.92 and a 12-month high of $270.62. The business has a 50 day moving average of $251.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $242.00. The company has a market capitalization of $140.34 billion, a PE ratio of 17.41, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.41.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. As a group, analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.91%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $2,194,878.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,691,485.60. This trade represents a 1.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $964,042.20. This represents a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,919 shares of company stock worth $8,222,168 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on PGR. Bank of America increased their price target on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Progressive from $295.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Raymond James raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.24.

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.