Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Reduces Stock Position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 9.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 81,177 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 8,014 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Progressive were worth $22,974,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America raised shares of Progressive from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $312.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Progressive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $288.88.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR stock traded up $2.13 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $261.80. 3,534,761 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,720,495. The company has a market capitalization of $153.47 billion, a PE ratio of 17.65, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $207.48 and a 12-month high of $292.99. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $274.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $264.65.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 33.50%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Stuart B. Burgdoerfer sold 3,681 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total transaction of $958,642.83. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,217 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,181,673.31. This represents a 23.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.59, for a total transaction of $2,685,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 248,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,616,766.16. The trade was a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 42,705 shares of company stock valued at $11,572,448. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.