Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target Cut to $300.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

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

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James upgraded shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Progressive from $299.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, HSBC downgraded Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $267.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $274.65.

Progressive Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of PGR stock opened at $240.64 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $249.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $242.95. Progressive has a 1-year low of $169.57 and a 1-year high of $270.62. The company has a market cap of $140.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.41. 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.17%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.91%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 9,066 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $2,194,878.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at $114,691,485.60. This trade represents a 1.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,938 shares of company stock worth $7,473,490 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AE Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 118.4% in the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,022 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,874,000 after acquiring an additional 4,891 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 328.1% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 110,732 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $23,000,000 after buying an additional 84,869 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 119,994 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $24,924,000 after buying an additional 5,556 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Progressive by 21.2% in the second quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 20,941 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,350,000 after purchasing an additional 3,663 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DRW Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Progressive by 98.7% in the second quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 2,714 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $563,000 after purchasing an additional 1,348 shares during the period. 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.