Patton Fund Management Inc. Reduces Stock Position in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

Patton Fund Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR) by 22.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,617 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 4,024 shares during the quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $3,854,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Progressive by 114.0% in the 1st quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 92 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its stake in Progressive by 119.0% in the 1st quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 138 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.37, for a total value of $2,753,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 238,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,544,668.88. This represents a 4.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Devin C. Johnson sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.04, for a total value of $110,016.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,370 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,084.80. The trade was a 4.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 34,517 shares of company stock valued at $9,451,821. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PGR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $330.00 price target on Progressive and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America raised Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $312.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen cut Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Progressive from $324.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $288.59.

Progressive Stock Performance

Progressive stock opened at $266.46 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $276.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $264.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $156.20 billion, a PE ratio of 18.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. 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 Progressive Co. has a one year low of $204.62 and a one year high of $292.99.

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

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.