LPL Financial LLC Boosts Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 20.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 391,273 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 66,628 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $99,290,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Progressive by 21.6% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,205,266,000 after buying an additional 842,109 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 29,701.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 596,331 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $151,325,000 after acquiring an additional 594,330 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 206.8% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 875,660 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $222,207,000 after purchasing an additional 590,235 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Progressive in the 1st quarter worth about $116,852,000. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ boosted its position in Progressive by 457.2% during the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 651,707 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $135,366,000 after purchasing an additional 534,754 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 7,696 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.21, for a total value of $1,964,096.16. Following the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,982 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $775,320.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,626,840. This trade represents a 9.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 59,209 shares of company stock worth $14,975,979. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. HSBC raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $269.81.

Progressive Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE PGR opened at $266.06 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $253.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $231.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market cap of $155.86 billion, a PE ratio of 19.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.36. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $149.14 and a 52 week high of $266.18.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 13.12 earnings per share for the current 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.