The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Purchased by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 5.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 118,314 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,543 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in Progressive were worth $33,484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Integrated Advisors Network LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 3,808 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Progressive by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,287 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $335,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Progressive by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,940 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $549,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Beacon Financial Group boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 3,659 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,036,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kesler Norman & Wride LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $885,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Price Performance

Progressive stock traded down $0.84 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $267.58. The company had a trading volume of 3,152,193 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,680,269. 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 Progressive Co. has a 12-month low of $203.39 and a 12-month high of $292.99. The company has a market capitalization of $156.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $275.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $264.55.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.94, for a total value of $2,759,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 258,024 shares in the company, valued at $71,199,142.56. This represents a 3.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,696 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total value of $479,391.36. Following the transaction, the executive now directly owns 26,697 shares in the company, valued at $7,546,174.02. This trade represents a 5.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 37,755 shares of company stock worth $10,367,074. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PGR. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Progressive from $285.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $288.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $288.59.

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.