4,000 Shares in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Purchased by HighVista Strategies LLC

HighVista Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 4,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,015,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Davis Capital Management acquired a new stake in Progressive during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 119.6% during the second quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 123 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank boosted its holdings in Progressive by 126.0% during the second quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 165 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its holdings in Progressive by 114.1% during the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 7,696 shares of Progressive 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,876,384.69. The trade was a 33.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 shares were 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 of the company’s stock, 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 sold 15,839 shares of company stock valued at $4,038,065. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on PGR. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. HSBC upgraded shares of 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $269.81.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR stock opened at $263.97 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $254.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $233.65. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $149.14 and a fifty-two week high of $270.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $154.64 billion, a PE ratio of 19.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.38.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.95 billion. Analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 EPS for the current 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.