Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Stake in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 0.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,516,288 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 493,332 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 9.30% of Progressive worth $14,548,217,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new stake in Progressive in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 900.0% in the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 130 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Activest Wealth Management increased its holdings in Progressive by 6,350.0% during the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 129 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Progressive by 1,885.7% during the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 139 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Progressive in a report on Monday, September 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $261.00 to $232.00 in a research note on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Progressive to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $350.00 to $351.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $273.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $265.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.78, for a total value of $556,230.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 45,724 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,466,664.72. The trade was a 4.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.22, for a total transaction of $1,555,052.40. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 15,192 shares in the company, valued at $3,679,806.24. The trade was a 29.71% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 51,782 shares of company stock valued at $12,708,788 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $225.30 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $132.11 billion, a PE ratio of 12.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $230.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $249.82. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $199.90 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

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

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.