The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Sold by Ascent Group LLC

Ascent Group LLC decreased its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 33,826 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 3,111 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $8,584,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 21.6% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,205,266,000 after purchasing an additional 842,109 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its position in Progressive by 75.3% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,494,084 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $379,139,000 after buying an additional 641,943 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 29,701.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 596,331 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $151,325,000 after buying an additional 594,330 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 206.8% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 875,660 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $222,207,000 after purchasing an additional 590,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its position in Progressive by 457.2% in the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 651,707 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $135,366,000 after purchasing an additional 534,754 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Progressive from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Roth Mkm increased their target price on Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $269.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 2,982 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $775,320.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,626,840. This trade represents a 9.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.20, for a total value of $10,937,914.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $119,475,967. This trade represents a 8.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 59,209 shares of company stock worth $14,975,979. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Up 0.8 %

PGR stock opened at $268.88 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $254.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $233.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market capitalization of $157.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.36. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $149.14 and a 52 week high of $270.62.

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

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.