Handelsbanken Fonder AB Has $58.08 Million Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lessened its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 1.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 205,228 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 2,214 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Progressive were worth $58,082,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Norges Bank bought a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth about $1,843,045,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 39,285.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,046,037 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $862,059,000 after purchasing an additional 3,038,303 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 67.6% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,171,501 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,239,143,000 after buying an additional 2,085,833 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $408,416,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 34.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,451,602,000 after buying an additional 1,547,677 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total value of $99,421.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 655 shares in the company, valued at $180,891.35. This trade represents a 35.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.37, for a total value of $2,753,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 238,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,544,668.88. This represents a 4.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 37,755 shares of company stock valued at $10,367,074. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Progressive from $324.00 to $328.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.59.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $271.24 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $159.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.84, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $201.34 and a 12 month high of $292.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $275.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $264.54.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. Research analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive 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.