Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Has $25.11 Million Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 98,962 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,231 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $25,113,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 20.9% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 237 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 2.7% during the third quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 1,712 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $434,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Washington Trust Bank boosted its holdings in Progressive by 4.6% during the third quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 1,024 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 21.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 262 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 455 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Trading Down 2.6 %

PGR opened at $254.56 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $254.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $234.80. The Progressive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $149.14 and a fifty-two week high of $270.62. The company has a market cap of $149.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.38. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PGR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Roth Mkm increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. 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 note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Progressive from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $269.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total value of $2,680,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,539,110.22. The trade was a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total value of $549,970.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,723 shares in the company, valued at $3,462,038.44. The trade was a 13.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,839 shares of company stock valued at $6,718,965. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.