Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Given New $310.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its price objective upped by Morgan Stanley from $300.00 to $310.00 in a research report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. HSBC raised Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $239.00 to $237.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $243.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $268.81.

Progressive Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of PGR stock opened at $251.12 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $248.81 and a 200 day moving average of $224.05. The stock has a market cap of $147.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.35. Progressive has a twelve month low of $149.14 and a twelve month high of $260.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.54 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Progressive will post 12.97 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 3rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.16%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 3.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In related news, insider Steven Broz sold 2,982 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $775,320.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,626,840. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 2,982 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $775,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,626,840. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total value of $9,281,827.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 517,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $110,665,641.05. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 144,383 shares of company stock worth $33,446,453. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,920 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,580,000 after buying an additional 1,067 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 4.3% during the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,765 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $365,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in Progressive by 33.0% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 17,603 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,641,000 after purchasing an additional 4,363 shares in the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Progressive in the first quarter valued at about $203,000. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC bought a new position in Progressive during the 1st quarter worth approximately $538,000. 85.34% of the stock is currently 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.