The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Purchased by Diversified LLC

Diversified LLC raised its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 13.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,323 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Diversified LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $336,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PGR. CreativeOne Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Progressive in the first quarter worth approximately $220,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Progressive by 88.7% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,626 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,577,000 after buying an additional 3,585 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter worth $64,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 138.1% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 10,021 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,071,000 after purchasing an additional 5,813 shares during the period. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 7,972 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,649,000 after purchasing an additional 537 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.20, for a total transaction of $10,937,914.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,735 shares in the company, valued at $119,475,967. This trade represents a 8.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,982 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $775,320.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,626,840. The trade was a 9.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,209 shares of company stock worth $14,975,979 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE PGR opened at $268.38 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.34, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.36. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $253.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $231.74. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $149.14 and a one year high of $268.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 13.17 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on PGR. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $242.00 to $251.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $269.81.

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.