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

Balanced Wealth Group LLC cut its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 2.3% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,012 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 72 shares during the period. Progressive makes up 0.4% of Balanced Wealth Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Balanced Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $852,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth $1,843,045,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 39,285.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,046,037 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $862,059,000 after buying an additional 3,038,303 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,171,501 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,239,143,000 after buying an additional 2,085,833 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth $408,416,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Progressive by 34.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,451,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,547,677 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $262.94 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $201.34 and a one year high of $292.99. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $275.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $264.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $154.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.26, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. The business had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.87 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.59, for a total value of $2,685,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 248,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $66,616,766.16. This trade represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,267 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.81, for a total transaction of $351,985.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 28,888 shares in the company, valued at $8,025,375.28. This represents a 4.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 37,755 shares of company stock valued at $10,367,074 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their price target on Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America raised shares of Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $312.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.59.

About Progressive

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.