BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Reduces Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. reduced its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 485,721 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 49,928 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $123,257,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Davis Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the third quarter worth about $25,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC grew its position in shares of Progressive by 119.6% during the second 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. grew its position in Progressive by 114.1% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank increased its stake in Progressive by 126.0% in the second quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 165 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the first quarter worth about $36,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Progressive Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of PGR opened at $256.99 on Thursday. The Progressive Co. has a 1-year low of $149.14 and a 1-year high of $263.85. 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 50 day simple moving average of $252.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $230.94. The stock has a market cap of $150.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.36.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. Equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Co. will post 13.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total transaction of $549,970.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,723 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,462,038.44. This represents a 13.71 % 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, insider Steven Broz sold 2,982 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 29,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,626,840. This trade represents a 9.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 59,209 shares of company stock worth $14,975,979. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on PGR shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Roth Mkm upped their price objective 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. 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 report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $242.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Five 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $269.81.

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.