Paragon Advisors LLC Has $4.15 Million Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Paragon Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,338 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the quarter. Progressive comprises about 1.3% of Paragon Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Paragon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $4,146,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 746,017 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $189,309,000 after purchasing an additional 2,610 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 33.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 60,040 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $15,236,000 after acquiring an additional 14,885 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 147.2% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 56,393 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $14,310,000 after acquiring an additional 33,576 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 20,115 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,104,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 355.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,654 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,196,000 after purchasing an additional 6,754 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on PGR shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $269.56.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $255.78 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $252.22 and a 200 day moving average of $229.82. The company has a market capitalization of $149.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.59, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.36. The Progressive Co. has a 12 month low of $149.14 and a 12 month high of $263.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 13.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total transaction of $549,970.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,723 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,462,038.44. This represents a 13.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 6,122 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.19, for a total transaction of $1,439,833.18. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,600,400.04. This trade represents a 15.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 65,331 shares of company stock valued at $16,415,812. Company 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.