The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Bought by Mizuho Securities USA LLC

Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 33.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 60,040 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,885 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $15,236,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 670,006 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Progressive by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,922,743 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,022,507,000 after buying an additional 92,212 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $497,003,000 after buying an additional 69,709 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 13.5% during the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,685,868 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $348,671,000 after buying an additional 200,118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Progressive by 20.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,467,191 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $304,775,000 after buying an additional 247,144 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PGR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Progressive from $242.00 to $251.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $319.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. HSBC upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $269.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.20, for a total transaction of $10,937,914.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $119,475,967. This represents a 8.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 6,122 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.19, for a total transaction of $1,439,833.18. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,600,400.04. The trade was a 15.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 65,331 shares of company stock valued at $16,415,812 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $255.78 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $252.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $229.98. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $149.14 and a 12 month high of $263.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.59, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its 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. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The business had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.95 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 13.09 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.