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Update: Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Progressive

[/vc_column_text][vc_raw_html]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[/vc_raw_html][vc_column_text]Progressive Corp (NYSE:PGR) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Investors bought 5,138 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately Infinity compared to the average volume of 0 put options.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $54.25. The stock had a trading volume of 3,880,741 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,093,913. The firm has a market cap of $31,173.76, a PE ratio of 23.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.94. Progressive has a twelve month low of $33.33 and a twelve month high of $54.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 17th. The insurance provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $7.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.04 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 15.40% and a net margin of 5.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.34 EPS. research analysts forecast that Progressive will post 2.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

In other Progressive news, insider Jeffrey W. Basch sold 9,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.23, for a total value of $434,070.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 70,965 shares in the company, valued at $3,422,641.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO M Jeffrey Charney sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.50, for a total value of $297,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 102,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,050,881. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,000 shares of company stock worth $1,024,470. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 5,723 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Financial Architects Inc raised its stake in Progressive by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Architects Inc now owns 18,187 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $801,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter.

ING Groep NV raised its stake in Progressive by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 39,707 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,751,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. raised its stake in Progressive by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. now owns 7,320 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Progressive by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Cornerstone Advisors Inc. now owns 3,404 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $150,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. 79.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Progressive in a report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price objective on the stock. UBS reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $58.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday, November 17th. MKM Partners boosted their target price on Progressive to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 16th. Finally, B. Riley reissued a “hold” rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, November 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. The stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.71.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]