Norges Bank Acquires Shares of 8,082,660 The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 8,082,660 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,156,939,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $813,000 after buying an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $269,000. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $615,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at $254,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 101.3% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 320 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Hsbc Global Res raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Progressive from $312.00 to $301.38 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley set a $214.00 price objective on shares of Progressive and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Progressive from $247.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $261.00 to $232.00 in a report on Friday, November 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $266.52.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $229.54 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a 52 week low of $199.90 and a 52 week high of $292.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a market cap of $134.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.59, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.29. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $227.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $247.10.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by ($0.59). The business had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.64 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 33.88%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.58 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,659 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.06, for a total value of $7,543,953.54. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 476,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $117,194,933.16. The trade was a 6.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 6,420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.22, for a total transaction of $1,555,052.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 15,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,679,806.24. The trade was a 29.71% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 43,332 shares of company stock worth $10,564,558. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.