Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Buys 17,760 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 12.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 159,133 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 17,760 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $40,382,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PGR. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Progressive by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,751,851 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $10,703,318,000 after purchasing an additional 285,070 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 15.7% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,925,019 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,018,592,000 after purchasing an additional 670,006 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Progressive by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,922,743 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,022,507,000 after buying an additional 92,212 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Progressive by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,392,773 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $497,003,000 after buying an additional 69,709 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,698,526 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $351,289,000 after purchasing an additional 244,541 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on PGR shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. HSBC raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $269.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total value of $748,678.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,618,555.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 7,696 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.21, for a total transaction of $1,964,096.16. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at $3,876,384.69. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total transaction of $748,678.15. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 26,353 shares in the company, valued at $6,618,555.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 74,843 shares of company stock valued at $18,674,912 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of PGR stock traded up $0.30 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $260.19. 315,901 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,461,592. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $149.14 and a 12 month high of $263.85. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $251.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $228.68. The stock has a market cap of $152.42 billion, a PE ratio of 18.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 13.15 EPS for the current 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.