Qsemble Capital Management LP Grows Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Qsemble Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 22.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,696 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,386 shares during the period. Progressive accounts for 0.9% of Qsemble Capital Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Qsemble Capital Management LP’s holdings in Progressive were worth $4,744,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Progressive by 1.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,922,743 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,022,507,000 after purchasing an additional 92,212 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,205,266,000 after buying an additional 842,109 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,836,218 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $973,479,000 after acquiring an additional 39,675 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Progressive by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,392,773 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $497,003,000 after acquiring an additional 69,709 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in Progressive by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,738,400 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $441,136,000 after acquiring an additional 4,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on PGR shares. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $269.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 7,696 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.21, for a total transaction of $1,964,096.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,876,384.69. This trade represents a 33.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total transaction of $748,678.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,353 shares in the company, valued at $6,618,555.95. This trade represents a 10.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 59,209 shares of company stock worth $14,975,979. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR traded down $1.70 on Monday, reaching $264.36. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 235,615 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,442,568. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $253.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $231.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $154.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.34, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.36. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $149.14 and a 12-month high of $266.89.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. The firm had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.95 billion. Research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 13.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.