Virtus Investment Advisers LLC Sells 571 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Virtus Investment Advisers LLC trimmed its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 5,229 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 571 shares during the quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,395,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new stake in Progressive during the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Activest Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 6,350.0% in the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 129 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 1,885.7% in the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 139 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock opened at $228.63 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $199.90 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $227.31 and its 200 day moving average is $246.74. The company has a market cap of $134.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.54, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.29.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 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 business had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.58 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on Progressive from $268.00 to $261.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $247.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Progressive in a research note on Monday, September 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $261.00 to $232.00 in a research note on Friday, November 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $266.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.29, for a total transaction of $307,050.05. Following the transaction, the insider owned 27,698 shares in the company, valued at $6,323,176.42. The trade was a 4.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $536,977.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 43,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,532,802.60. This trade represents a 4.85% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 43,332 shares of company stock worth $10,564,558. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.