GAM Holding AG Acquires 11,720 Shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

GAM Holding AG grew its stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 56.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,349 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 11,720 shares during the period. GAM Holding AG's holdings in Progressive were worth $9,155,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in shares of Progressive by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 68,644 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $19,426,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Progressive by 36.4% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 126,826 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $35,893,000 after acquiring an additional 33,864 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,141,000. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH grew its position in shares of Progressive by 498.5% during the 1st quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 5,057 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,431,000 after acquiring an additional 4,212 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 93,463 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $26,451,000 after acquiring an additional 13,231 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Price Performance

NYSE PGR traded up $0.93 on Friday, hitting $261.26. The stock had a trading volume of 8,877,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,711,173. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $204.88 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $153.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $275.34 and a 200-day moving average of $264.47.

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

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.04, for a total value of $110,016.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,370 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,302,084.80. This represents a 4.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.37, for a total transaction of $2,753,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 238,024 shares in the company, valued at $65,544,668.88. The trade was a 4.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,157 shares of company stock valued at $9,352,400 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a "market perform" rating and set a $288.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Progressive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $288.88.

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.