Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Increases Stock Position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 105.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,234 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,941 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Progressive were worth $7,144,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $813,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $269,000. Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its position in Progressive by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 11,040 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,645,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $250,000. Finally, Level Four Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Progressive by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,624 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $629,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.79, for a total transaction of $2,637,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 228,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,150,450.96. The trade was a 4.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,267 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.54, for a total transaction of $313,633.18. Following the transaction, the insider owned 26,354 shares in the company, valued at $6,523,669.16. The trade was a 4.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 33,972 shares of company stock valued at $9,078,681. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Down 3.8%

Shares of PGR stock opened at $240.67 on Tuesday. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $208.13 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $263.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $266.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $141.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.56, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.37.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.45. Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The firm had revenue of $20.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.48 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 4th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive’s payout ratio is currently 2.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on PGR shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $337.00 to $336.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $297.00 to $287.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $286.88.

Progressive Company 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.