Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target Raised to $307.00 at Morgan Stanley

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its price objective lifted by Morgan Stanley from $300.00 to $307.00 in a report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

PGR has been the topic of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $273.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. HSBC cut shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Raymond James raised Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.71.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR opened at $246.78 on Friday. Progressive has a 1 year low of $176.37 and a 1 year high of $270.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s 50-day moving average is $247.01 and its 200 day moving average is $244.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its 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 34.32% and a net margin of 11.25%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Progressive will post 14.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total value of $2,680,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,539,110.22. This represents a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the sale, 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 quarter, insiders have sold 56,361 shares of company stock worth $13,983,575. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Progressive by 20.9% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 237 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 54.7% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp increased its holdings in Progressive by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,602 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $384,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Monument Capital Management raised its stake in Progressive by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 13,762 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,298,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Company 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.