Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Increases Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 60.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,198 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,213 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $3,169,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pines Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 3.0% in the first quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,287 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $335,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,940 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $549,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Beacon Financial Group increased its position in Progressive by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 3,659 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,036,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $885,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 3.6% during the first quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,142 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,696 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total transaction of $479,391.36. Following the sale, the executive now directly owns 26,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,546,174.02. The trade was a 5.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.37, for a total value of $2,753,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 238,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,544,668.88. This trade represents a 4.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 37,755 shares of company stock worth $10,367,074 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR stock traded down $0.49 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $267.93. 1,583,641 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,673,664. The Progressive Co. has a one year low of $202.30 and a one year high of $292.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $275.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $264.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. The business had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $288.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Progressive from $285.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Progressive from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $312.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $288.59.

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.