Burford Brothers Inc. Purchases Shares of 5,778 The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Burford Brothers Inc. bought a new position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,778 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,635,000. Progressive comprises 0.8% of Burford Brothers Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 114.0% in the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Progressive during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in Progressive in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the first quarter valued at about $33,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Progressive from $297.00 to $287.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $288.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut Progressive from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $285.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,267 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.38, for a total transaction of $329,901.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 27,621 shares in the company, valued at $7,191,955.98. This represents a 4.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Stuart B. Burgdoerfer sold 3,681 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total value of $958,642.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 12,217 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,181,673.31. This represents a 23.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 42,705 shares of company stock worth $11,450,948 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR traded down $4.61 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $244.77. 3,182,460 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,810,532. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $272.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $265.57. The company has a market capitalization of $143.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.37. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $208.13 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 33.50%. Equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, July 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is currently 2.70%.

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.