Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Sells 22,147 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 89.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,539 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 22,147 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $608,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Progressive by 54.7% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 400 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.04, for a total value of $110,016.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,084.80. This trade represents a 4.56% 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 Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total transaction of $99,421.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $180,891.35. This represents a 35.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,894 shares of company stock valued at $11,020,097 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Progressive Stock Up 1.7%

Progressive stock opened at $285.93 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $167.62 billion, a PE ratio of 19.86, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $275.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $261.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $201.34 and a fifty-two week high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. Equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.14%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on PGR shares. StockNews.com upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group lifted their price target on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays lifted their price target on Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $287.65.

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.