The Progressive Corporation $PGR Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 7.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,390,551 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 189,226 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.41% of Progressive worth $637,942,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,192 shares during the period. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Progressive in the second quarter valued at approximately $306,000. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP lifted its position in Progressive by 199.0% during the second quarter. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP now owns 9,411 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,511,000 after buying an additional 6,263 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in Progressive during the second quarter worth approximately $13,583,000. Finally, Whalen Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Progressive during the second quarter worth approximately $647,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Progressive to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Progressive from $268.00 to $261.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays cut their price objective on Progressive from $271.00 to $257.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Progressive from $246.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Progressive from $262.00 to $246.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $266.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,659 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.06, for a total value of $7,543,953.54. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 476,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $117,194,933.16. This represents a 6.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 2,218 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $536,977.80. Following the transaction, the insider owned 43,506 shares in the company, valued at $10,532,802.60. This trade represents a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 41,987 shares of company stock valued at $10,257,508. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $226.99 on Friday. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $199.90 and a 1-year high of $292.99. The company has a market capitalization of $133.11 billion, a PE ratio of 12.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The business has a 50-day moving average of $228.90 and a 200-day moving average of $248.69.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.04 by ($0.59). Progressive had a return on equity of 33.88% and a net margin of 12.57%.The business had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.58 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.