Nvest Financial LLC Sells 422 Shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Nvest Financial LLC lessened its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 4.8% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,415 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 422 shares during the quarter. Progressive comprises about 1.3% of Nvest Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Nvest Financial LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,382,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PGR. Integrated Advisors Network LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 1.0% during the first quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 3,808 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,287 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Progressive by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,940 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $549,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Financial Group increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.1% in the first quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 3,659 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,036,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Kesler Norman & Wride LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $885,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on PGR. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $288.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America raised shares of Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $312.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley set a $330.00 price target on shares of Progressive and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $288.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.94, for a total value of $2,759,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 258,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,199,142.56. This trade represents a 3.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.38, for a total value of $1,041,520.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 41,289 shares in the company, valued at $10,750,829.82. This trade represents a 8.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 42,705 shares of company stock valued at $11,572,448 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Progressive Stock Down 2.4%

PGR opened at $259.67 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $152.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.40. The Progressive Corporation has a 12 month low of $204.88 and a 12 month high of $292.99. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $274.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $264.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.50% and a net margin of 11.10%. On average, equities analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current 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.