Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Buys Shares of 15,935 The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Meeder Advisory Services initiated a position in Progressive by purchasing 15,935 shares worth approximately $3.48 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 85.34% of PGR.
• Progressive exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $5.67 in EPS versus the $4.64 consensus and revenue of $23.61 billion versus $19.49 billion expected. Revenue increased 5% year over year.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with a $233.16 price target, while insiders have sold 82,224 shares valued at about $17.4 million over the past 90 days.

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 15,935 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,481,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PGR. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $813,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth $269,000. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $615,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. HUB Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,282 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $609,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 12.0% in the second quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,146 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,681,000 after purchasing an additional 1,622 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America dropped their target price on Progressive from $313.00 to $308.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Progressive from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Progressive from $231.00 to $226.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group upped their target price on Progressive from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, William Blair reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $233.16.

Progressive Trading Up 1.5%

PGR stock opened at $206.98 on Wednesday. The Progressive Corporation has a 52-week low of $189.20 and a 52-week high of $254.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market cap of $120.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.38, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.27. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $214.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $206.39.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.64 by $1.03. The company had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.49 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 32.92% and a net margin of 12.84%.Progressive's quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio is presently 2.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.33, for a total value of $1,514,310.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 22,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,877,376.18. This trade represents a 23.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Lori A. Niederst sold 7,339 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.29, for a total transaction of $1,535,979.31. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,908,847.43. The trade was a 14.71% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 82,224 shares of company stock valued at $17,416,438. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Progressive

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.

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