Raymond James & Associates Purchases 190,282 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 17.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,292,148 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 190,282 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 0.22% of Progressive worth $327,895,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Progressive in the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 34.8% during the third quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,434 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $364,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 92.3% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,722 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,452,000 after buying an additional 2,747 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co lifted its stake in Progressive by 20.1% in the 3rd quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 705 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $179,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,499 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $380,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on PGR. StockNews.com cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. HSBC raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Progressive from $242.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Progressive from $243.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $268.81.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $251.12. 2,089,962 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,497,081. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $248.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $224.05. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $149.14 and a one year high of $260.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.07 billion, a PE ratio of 21.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.54 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 12.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 3rd were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 3.42%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total value of $549,970.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,462,038.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Progressive news, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total transaction of $549,970.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,723 shares in the company, valued at $3,462,038.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,982 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $775,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,626,840. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 144,383 shares of company stock valued at $33,446,453 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.