Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Purchases 3,980 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 60.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,618 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,980 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,205,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 11.8% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 455 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 10.4% in the second quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 509 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $106,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.2% in the second quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,202 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $873,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. City State Bank grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 8.2% in the second quarter. City State Bank now owns 661 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GYL Financial Synergies LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 4.0% in the second quarter. GYL Financial Synergies LLC now owns 1,302 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $270,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on PGR shares. Hsbc Global Res raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Progressive from $243.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Progressive from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $256.12.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 3,050 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.81, for a total transaction of $639,920.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 32,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,808,963.93. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.40, for a total value of $2,104,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 302,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,742,363.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 3,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.81, for a total value of $639,920.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,808,963.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 146,704 shares of company stock valued at $33,367,408 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Progressive Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE PGR opened at $256.31 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $230.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $215.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $137.59 and a 52 week high of $260.46. The company has a market capitalization of $150.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.61. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.57 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 12.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 3rd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.09%.

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.