Venture Visionary Partners LLC Sells 3,874 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Venture Visionary Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 22.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,760 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 3,874 shares during the quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $3,134,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Dagco Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 106.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR opened at $203.40 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $199.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $207.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $189.20 and a 1 year high of $269.78. The firm has a market cap of $118.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.34, a PEG ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.28.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.13. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The business had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.37 EPS. Progressive’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of the firm’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 $231,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 28,668 shares in the company, valued at $5,733,600. This trade represents a 3.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.50, for a total value of $55,755.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,227. The trade was a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 7,343 shares of company stock worth $1,470,355 in the last ninety days. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 price objective on Progressive in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Roth Mkm set a $235.00 price objective on Progressive in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Evercore reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Progressive from $235.00 to $223.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Barclays set a $247.00 price objective on Progressive in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.