BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Sells 49,928 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. trimmed its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 485,721 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 49,928 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned 0.08% of Progressive worth $123,257,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PGR. Davis Capital Management bought a new position in Progressive in the third quarter worth about $25,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 119.6% in the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 123 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 126.0% during the 2nd quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 165 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its stake in Progressive by 114.1% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR stock opened at $256.99 on Thursday. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $149.14 and a 1 year high of $263.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.54 billion, a PE ratio of 18.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $252.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $230.94.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. The business had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.95 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 13.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total transaction of $549,970.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,462,038.44. This represents a 13.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.20, for a total value of $10,937,914.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $119,475,967. This trade represents a 8.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 59,209 shares of company stock worth $14,975,979. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. HSBC upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $269.81.

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.