Hartford Funds Management Co LLC Reduces Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 8.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,785 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 249 shares during the period. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $707,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 84.3% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 25,738 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,531,000 after purchasing an additional 11,770 shares in the last quarter. Sycomore Asset Management grew its stake in Progressive by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 28,128 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,856,000 after acquiring an additional 2,450 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. purchased a new stake in Progressive in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $981,000. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 22.2% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 31,330 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,480,000 after acquiring an additional 5,691 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew 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 worth $1,577,000 after acquiring an additional 3,585 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $269.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 2,982 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $775,320.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,626,840. This trade represents a 9.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.20, for a total transaction of $10,937,914.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,735 shares in the company, valued at $119,475,967. The trade was a 8.39 % 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 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $266.06 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $155.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.34, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.36. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $253.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $231.63. The Progressive Co. has a twelve month low of $149.14 and a twelve month high of $266.18.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The firm had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.95 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 13.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.