3Chopt Investment Partners LLC Acquires 173 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

3Chopt Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 1.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,084 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the quarter. Progressive accounts for about 0.9% of 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,925,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. WR Wealth Planners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 119.6% during the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 123 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO acquired a new stake in Progressive in the first quarter worth about $32,000. Northwest Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Hilltop National Bank boosted its stake in Progressive by 126.0% in the 2nd quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 165 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays began coverage on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $367.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Progressive from $232.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $257.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total transaction of $549,970.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,462,038.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total transaction of $549,970.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,723 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,462,038.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 22,708 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total transaction of $4,859,739.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 302,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,836,041.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 146,512 shares of company stock worth $33,912,874 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $253.76 on Tuesday. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $137.59 and a 52 week high of $260.46. The firm has a market cap of $148.63 billion, a PE ratio of 25.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.35. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $238.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $219.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.54 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 10.17%. Progressive’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.57 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

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

Progressive Company 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.