Eastern Bank Sells 3,472 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Eastern Bank trimmed its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 13.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 22,645 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 3,472 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Progressive were worth $5,426,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Progressive by 98.2% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $189,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 90.9% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,813 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,983,000 after purchasing an additional 3,720 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 84.3% during the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 25,738 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,531,000 after purchasing an additional 11,770 shares during the last quarter. Sycomore Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 9.5% during the second quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 28,128 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,856,000 after purchasing an additional 2,450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 7.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,067,924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,286,036,000 after purchasing an additional 330,667 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $235.56. 1,775,570 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,420,304. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $251.34 and a 200-day moving average of $241.61. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $166.92 and a 52 week high of $270.62. The stock has a market cap of $137.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.12, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. On average, analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given 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 of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 2.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $261.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $299.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.24.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total value of $748,678.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,618,555.95. This represents a 10.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 681 shares of the company’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 $164,870.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,612 shares in the company, valued at $8,137,465.20. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 32,919 shares of company stock worth $8,222,168. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Company 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.