Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Stock Price

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its target price boosted by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $300.00 to $307.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 23.41% from the stock’s current price.

PGR has been the subject of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Progressive from $302.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. HSBC downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Progressive from $197.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.71.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PGR opened at $248.76 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Progressive has a 12 month low of $176.37 and a 12 month high of $270.62. The company has a market capitalization of $145.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.28, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.41. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $247.40 and its 200 day moving average is $244.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 34.32%. Research analysts predict that Progressive will post 14.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.09, for a total value of $2,680,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 292,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,539,110.22. This trade represents a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares in the company, valued at $964,042.20. This represents a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 52,506 shares of company stock valued at $13,031,159. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Progressive

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Progressive by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,683,807 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,263,763,000 after acquiring an additional 315,411 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,652,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682,213 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,518,615 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,669,204,000 after buying an additional 170,618 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,067,924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,286,036,000 after acquiring an additional 330,667 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,749,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,205,266,000 after acquiring an additional 842,109 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.