Two Sigma Advisers LP Reduces Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Two Sigma Advisers LP lowered its holdings in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,409,200 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 112,700 shares during the quarter. Progressive makes up approximately 0.8% of Two Sigma Advisers LP’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Two Sigma Advisers LP owned about 0.24% of Progressive worth $357,599,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Davis Capital Management bought a new stake in Progressive during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC raised its stake in Progressive by 119.6% during 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 period. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 114.1% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in Progressive during the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Sachetta LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 34.0% in the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 209 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PGR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. HSBC raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $269.81.

Progressive Stock Performance

NYSE:PGR opened at $261.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $254.57 and its 200-day moving average is $234.80. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $149.14 and a 52-week high of $270.62. The company has a market cap of $153.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.99, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.38.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. The company had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.95 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $3,462,038.44. This trade represents a 13.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,982 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $775,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,626,840. This trade represents a 9.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,839 shares of company stock worth $6,718,965 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.