Financial Counselors Inc. Sells 788 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Financial Counselors Inc. lessened its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 1.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,038 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 788 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $11,175,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Diversified Trust Co raised its position in Progressive by 84.3% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 25,738 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,531,000 after buying an additional 11,770 shares during the last quarter. Sycomore Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 9.5% in 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. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the second quarter worth $981,000. Cumberland Partners Ltd boosted its holdings in Progressive by 116.7% during the third quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 6,500 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,649,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Progressive by 21.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,205,266,000 after purchasing an additional 842,109 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Progressive from $242.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $269.81.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR opened at $266.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $253.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $232.95. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $149.14 and a 1 year high of $270.62. The company has a market capitalization of $156.33 billion, a PE ratio of 19.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.36.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total value of $748,678.15. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 26,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,618,555.95. This trade represents a 10.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.20, for a total transaction of $10,937,914.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $119,475,967. This represents a 8.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 59,209 shares of company stock valued at $14,975,979 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.