Harfst & Associates Inc. Sells 1,121 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Harfst & Associates Inc. lessened its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 12.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,562 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,121 shares during the period. Harfst & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $2,018,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 87,760 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $23,420,000 after buying an additional 1,192 shares during the last quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the second quarter worth approximately $306,000. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 199.0% during the second quarter. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP now owns 9,411 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,511,000 after purchasing an additional 6,263 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the second quarter worth approximately $13,583,000. Finally, Whalen Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Progressive during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $647,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Stock Performance

Progressive stock opened at $229.54 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $227.83 and a 200-day moving average of $247.23. The company has a market capitalization of $134.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.29. The Progressive Corporation has a 1 year low of $199.90 and a 1 year high of $292.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by ($0.59). The business had revenue of $21.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.64 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.88% and a net margin of 12.57%.During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.58 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.29, for a total value of $307,050.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 27,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,323,176.42. This represents a 4.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,659 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.06, for a total value of $7,543,953.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 476,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $117,194,933.16. This represents a 6.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 43,332 shares of company stock valued at $10,564,558. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on PGR. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Progressive from $312.00 to $301.38 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Progressive from $301.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $262.00 to $246.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $261.00 to $232.00 in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $247.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $266.52.

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.