Simon Quick Advisors LLC Raises Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 42.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,672 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,689 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC's holdings in Progressive were worth $1,605,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $1,843,045,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Progressive by 39,285.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,046,037 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $862,059,000 after acquiring an additional 3,038,303 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in Progressive by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,171,501 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,239,143,000 after acquiring an additional 2,085,833 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth $408,416,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Progressive by 34.3% in 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 in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on PGR. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $288.59.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In related news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total value of $99,421.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,891.35. This trade represents a 35.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.37, for a total transaction of $2,753,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 238,024 shares in the company, valued at $65,544,668.88. This represents a 4.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 37,755 shares of company stock worth $10,367,074 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Progressive Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE PGR traded up $5.01 on Thursday, reaching $268.23. 3,045,531 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,677,594. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $202.30 and a 12 month high of $292.99. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $275.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $264.53. The company has a market cap of $157.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.87 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.