Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Sells 317 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lessened its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 4.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,891 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 317 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Progressive were worth $1,839,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new stake in Progressive in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new position in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Activest Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 6,350.0% in the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 129 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Progressive by 900.0% during the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 130 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter worth $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $227.70 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.32. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $199.90 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $227.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $245.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.29.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.04 by ($0.59). The firm had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 previous year, the company earned $3.58 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.29, for a total transaction of $307,050.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 27,698 shares in the company, valued at $6,323,176.42. This represents a 4.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $536,977.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 43,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,532,802.60. The trade was a 4.85% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,673 shares of company stock worth $4,163,005. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Barclays dropped their target price on Progressive from $271.00 to $257.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Morgan Stanley set a $214.00 price target on shares of Progressive and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $266.52.

About Progressive

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.