Meridian Wealth Management LLC Acquires New Stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 7,833 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,988,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Davis Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 114.1% in the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 126.0% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter worth $36,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR stock opened at $266.04 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $155.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.36. The business’s 50-day moving average is $253.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $231.52. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $149.14 and a 1 year high of $266.18.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share (EPS) 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 return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. Analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 13.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total transaction of $748,678.15. Following the sale, the insider now owns 26,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,618,555.95. This trade represents a 10.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.20, for a total value of $10,937,914.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,735 shares in the company, valued at $119,475,967. This trade represents a 8.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,209 shares of company stock valued at $14,975,979 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on PGR shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Progressive from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Progressive from $250.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. HSBC upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $269.81.

About Progressive

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.