Perpetual Ltd Decreases Holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Perpetual Ltd trimmed its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 7.5% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 320,647 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 25,830 shares during the quarter. Progressive makes up 1.1% of Perpetual Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in Progressive were worth $90,746,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Integrated Advisors Network LLC increased its position in Progressive by 1.0% during the first quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 3,808 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,287 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Progressive by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,940 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $549,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Financial Group raised its position in Progressive by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 3,659 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,036,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Kesler Norman & Wride LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $885,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR opened at $261.80 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $274.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $264.65. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $207.48 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The company has a market cap of $153.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.65, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 33.50%. The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $312.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $288.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $288.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 4,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.38, for a total value of $1,041,520.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 41,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,750,829.82. The trade was a 8.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,267 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.38, for a total value of $329,901.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,191,955.98. This represents a 4.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,705 shares of company stock valued at $8,813,048 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.