Range Financial Group LLC Increases Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Range Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 109.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,692 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,406 shares during the period. Range Financial Group LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $762,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sycomore Asset Management grew its holdings in Progressive by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 51,770 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $13,066,000 after purchasing an additional 15,512 shares during the last quarter. Vivid Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $2,143,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Progressive by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,199 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,881,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. Allstate Corp bought a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $4,205,000. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Progressive by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,667,903 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $878,866,000 after acquiring an additional 111,659 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.59, for a total value of $2,685,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 248,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $66,616,766.16. The trade was a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total transaction of $99,421.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 655 shares of the company's stock, valued at $180,891.35. The trade was a 35.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 37,755 shares of company stock valued at $10,367,074 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $330.00 target price on shares of Progressive and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $288.59.

Progressive Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $279.19 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $276.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $264.50. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $201.34 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The stock has a market cap of $163.67 billion, a PE ratio of 19.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last issued 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 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.87 billion. Equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

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