Joseph Group Capital Management Sells 310 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Joseph Group Capital Management lessened its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 2.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,291 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 310 shares during the period. Joseph Group Capital Management’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,611,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PGR. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 548.2% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 811,653 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $167,866,000 after purchasing an additional 686,433 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its position in Progressive by 15.7% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,925,019 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,018,592,000 after buying an additional 670,006 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Progressive by 29,701.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 596,331 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $151,325,000 after buying an additional 594,330 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Progressive by 206.8% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 875,660 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $222,207,000 after acquiring an additional 590,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at about $116,852,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Progressive from $242.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen boosted their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Progressive from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $269.81.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $256.56 on Tuesday. 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 Progressive Co. has a one year low of $149.14 and a one year high of $263.85. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $252.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $230.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.36.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $19.43 billion during 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%. Analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 13.09 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.20, for a total value of $10,937,914.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $119,475,967. This trade represents a 8.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 7,696 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,876,384.69. The trade was a 33.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 59,209 shares of company stock valued at $14,975,979. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.