LPL Financial LLC Grows Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 391,273 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 66,628 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.07% of Progressive worth $99,290,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Diversified Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 84.3% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 25,738 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,531,000 after purchasing an additional 11,770 shares during the period. Sycomore Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 9.5% during the second quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 28,128 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,856,000 after buying an additional 2,450 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the second quarter valued at approximately $981,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 22.2% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 31,330 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,480,000 after buying an additional 5,691 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 88.7% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,626 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,577,000 after acquiring an additional 3,585 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on PGR shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Bank of America lifted their price target 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Progressive from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $269.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.20, for a total value of $10,937,914.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $119,475,967. This trade represents a 8.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,982 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $775,320.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,334 shares in the company, valued at $7,626,840. This trade represents a 9.23 % 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 worth $14,975,979. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Progressive Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE PGR opened at $266.06 on Friday. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $149.14 and a 52 week high of $266.18. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $253.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $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 price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.36.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 13.12 EPS for the current fiscal 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.