Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 67.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,788 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,120 shares during the quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $707,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Diversified Trust Co increased its holdings in Progressive by 84.3% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 25,738 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,531,000 after purchasing an additional 11,770 shares during the last quarter. Sycomore Asset Management grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 9.5% in the second quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 28,128 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,856,000 after buying an additional 2,450 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at $981,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 22.2% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 31,330 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,480,000 after acquiring an additional 5,691 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cumberland Partners Ltd boosted its holdings in Progressive by 116.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 6,500 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,649,000 after acquiring an additional 3,500 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. HSBC upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $242.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Progressive from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $269.81.

Progressive Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE PGR opened at $268.00 on Wednesday. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $149.14 and a 12 month high of $268.16. The company has a market capitalization of $157.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $253.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $232.47.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 13.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.20, for a total transaction of $10,937,914.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $119,475,967. This trade represents a 8.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total value of $748,678.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,618,555.95. This represents a 10.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 59,209 shares of company stock valued at $14,975,979 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.