Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Acquires 57,625 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 13.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 490,655 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 57,625 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Progressive were worth $130,936,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 87,760 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $23,420,000 after buying an additional 1,192 shares during the last quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive during the second quarter valued at about $306,000. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP lifted its holdings in Progressive by 199.0% during the second quarter. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP now owns 9,411 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,511,000 after purchasing an additional 6,263 shares during the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in Progressive during the second quarter worth about $13,583,000. Finally, Whalen Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the second quarter worth about $647,000. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $536,977.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 43,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,532,802.60. This represents a 4.85% decrease in their position. 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 30,659 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.06, for a total transaction of $7,543,953.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 476,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $117,194,933.16. The trade was a 6.05% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 51,782 shares of company stock worth $12,708,788 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on PGR. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Progressive from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Progressive from $271.00 to $257.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Progressive from $262.00 to $246.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Progressive from $312.00 to $301.38 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, September 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $265.65.

Progressive Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $223.00 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $199.90 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The firm has a market cap of $130.77 billion, a PE ratio of 12.23, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $229.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $249.23.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by ($0.59). Progressive had a return on equity of 33.88% and a net margin of 12.57%.The company had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.58 earnings per share. Analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 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.