Avestar Capital LLC Grows Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Avestar Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,070 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 211 shares during the quarter. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $779,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Progressive by 21.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,205,266,000 after buying an additional 842,109 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Progressive by 29,701.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 596,331 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $151,325,000 after acquiring an additional 594,330 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised 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 valued at $222,207,000 after acquiring an additional 590,235 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Progressive during the first quarter valued at 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE PGR opened at $268.00 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $253.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $232.47. The Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $149.14 and a 12-month high of $268.16. The firm has a market cap of $157.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.48, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $119,475,967. The trade was a 8.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total value of $748,678.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,618,555.95. The trade was a 10.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 59,209 shares of company stock valued at $14,975,979 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America raised their target price on Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Five equities 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $269.81.

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.