MBE Wealth Management LLC Takes $434,000 Position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

MBE Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,535 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $434,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Progressive by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,400,366 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $12,795,262,000 after purchasing an additional 583,376 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Progressive by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,615,430 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,498,363,000 after purchasing an additional 189,638 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,843,045,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Progressive by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,179,529 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,480,677,000 after purchasing an additional 710,684 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Progressive by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,451,602,000 after acquiring an additional 1,547,677 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE PGR traded up $0.93 on Friday, hitting $261.26. 8,877,642 shares of the stock were exchanged, 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 current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $153.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.40. The company's 50-day moving average price is $275.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $264.49.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.87 billion. Research analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,267 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.81, for a total transaction of $351,985.27. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 28,888 shares in the company, valued at $8,025,375.28. The trade was a 4.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.94, for a total transaction of $2,759,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 258,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,199,142.56. This represents a 3.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 34,157 shares of company stock worth $9,352,400. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PGR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America raised Progressive from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $312.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays lifted their target price on Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Progressive from $285.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $330.00 price target on shares of Progressive and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $288.88.

About Progressive

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.