Mizuho Securities USA LLC Trims Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC trimmed its holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 15.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 37,977 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 7,178 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Progressive were worth $9,637,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Diversified Trust Co raised its holdings in Progressive by 84.3% during the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 25,738 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,531,000 after purchasing an additional 11,770 shares in the last quarter. Sycomore Asset Management grew its position in Progressive by 9.5% during the second quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 28,128 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,856,000 after buying an additional 2,450 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. acquired a new position in Progressive during the second quarter worth about $981,000. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in Progressive by 22.2% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 31,330 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,480,000 after buying an additional 5,691 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Progressive by 88.7% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,626 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,577,000 after buying an additional 3,585 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.20, for a total transaction of $10,937,914.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $119,475,967. This trade represents a 8.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,982 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $775,320.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,626,840. The trade was a 9.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 59,209 shares of company stock valued at $14,975,979. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $256.99 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $252.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $230.94. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $149.14 and a 52 week high of $263.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market cap of $150.54 billion, a PE ratio of 18.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.36.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 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 business had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.95 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 13.09 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on PGR shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays increased their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $269.81.

Progressive 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.