USA Financial Formulas Trims Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

USA Financial Formulas lowered its position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 83.1% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 670 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 3,301 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas’ holdings in Progressive were worth $190,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 119.0% in the first quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 138 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on PGR shares. Barclays boosted their target price on Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Progressive from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Bank of America raised Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $312.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $288.59.

Progressive Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $262.94 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The Progressive Co. has a 52-week low of $201.34 and a 52-week high of $292.99. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $275.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $264.53. The company has a market capitalization of $154.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Carl G. Joyce sold 360 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.17, for a total transaction of $99,421.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,891.35. This represents a 35.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,696 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total value of $479,391.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 26,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,546,174.02. This trade represents a 5.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 37,755 shares of company stock worth $10,367,074. 0.34% of the stock is 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.