The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) Shares Purchased by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 19.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 110,172 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,692 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $26,398,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Progressive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $408,416,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 13.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,652,235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,682,213 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,205,266,000 after acquiring an additional 842,109 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its position in Progressive by 75.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,494,084 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $379,139,000 after purchasing an additional 641,943 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Progressive by 36,819.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,195 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $136,145,000 after purchasing an additional 566,656 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $279.77 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $164.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35. The Progressive Co. has a 52 week low of $194.49 and a 52 week high of $287.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.31. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $254.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $252.81.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.79% and a net margin of 11.25%. On average, analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total transaction of $2,386,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. This represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $964,042.20. This represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $14,102,075. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PGR shares. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $313.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Raymond James raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $261.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.59.

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.