James Hambro & Partners LLP Boosts Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

James Hambro & Partners LLP boosted its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 0.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 512,464 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 996 shares during the period. Progressive accounts for 6.1% of James Hambro & Partners LLP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. James Hambro & Partners LLP owned 0.09% of Progressive worth $145,086,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 11.0% during the 1st quarter. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,744 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $777,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 498.5% during the 1st quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 5,057 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,431,000 after acquiring an additional 4,212 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 8,126 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,300,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. Motive Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter valued at $209,000. Finally, Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,903 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $822,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on PGR. Bank of America upgraded 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. Morgan Stanley set a $330.00 price target on shares of Progressive and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Progressive has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $288.59.

Progressive Stock Performance

PGR stock traded down $0.84 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $267.58. 3,152,193 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,679,221. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $204.62 and a 52 week high of $292.99. The business has a 50-day moving average of $276.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $264.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $156.86 billion, a PE ratio of 18.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.87 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.37, for a total transaction of $2,753,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 238,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,544,668.88. This represents a 4.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total transaction of $99,421.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 655 shares of the company's stock, valued at $180,891.35. This represents a 35.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 37,755 shares of company stock valued at $10,367,074. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Progressive Company 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.