Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC Purchases 6,754 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 355.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,654 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,754 shares during the quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,196,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,751,851 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $10,703,318,000 after buying an additional 285,070 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Progressive by 15.7% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,925,019 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,018,592,000 after buying an additional 670,006 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.9% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,922,743 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,022,507,000 after purchasing an additional 92,212 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3.0% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,392,773 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $497,003,000 after purchasing an additional 69,709 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 13.5% during the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,685,868 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $348,671,000 after purchasing an additional 200,118 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $264.00 on Friday. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $149.14 and a 1 year high of $264.00. The stock has a market cap of $154.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $251.92 and a 200 day moving average of $229.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued 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. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The company had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.95 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 13.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. HSBC upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Progressive from $250.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $269.56.

Insider Activity at Progressive

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