Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Buys 518,262 Shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 102.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,024,992 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 518,262 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Progressive were worth $260,102,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blueshift Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 122.1% in the third quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC now owns 13,616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,455,000 after acquiring an additional 7,486 shares during the period. Cynosure Group LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 153.1% in the third quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 5,132 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,302,000 after acquiring an additional 3,104 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 90.9% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,813 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,983,000 after acquiring an additional 3,720 shares during the period. Baldwin Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Progressive in the third quarter valued at about $225,000. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 7.4% in the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 3,070 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $779,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on PGR. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Progressive from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Five 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $269.81.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $268.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $253.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $232.47. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $149.14 and a 52 week high of $268.16. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $157.00 billion, a PE ratio of 19.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.36.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released 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 firm had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.10% and a net margin of 11.27%. Analysts predict that The Progressive Co. will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,370 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.20, for a total transaction of $10,937,914.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 473,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $119,475,967. This trade represents a 8.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Patrick K. Callahan sold 7,696 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.21, for a total value of $1,964,096.16. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,876,384.69. This trade represents a 33.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,209 shares of company stock worth $14,975,979 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.