Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Stock Price

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its price target lowered by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $290.00 to $280.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 15.74% from the company’s current price.

PGR has been the subject of several other reports. UBS Group reduced their price target on Progressive from $291.00 to $280.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Progressive from $288.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Bank of America raised Progressive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $312.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $284.82.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $241.92 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $269.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $265.77. The company has a market capitalization of $141.82 billion, a PE ratio of 16.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Progressive has a 52 week low of $208.13 and a 52 week high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.50% and a net margin of 11.10%. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Progressive will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,267 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.38, for a total transaction of $329,901.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,621 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,191,955.98. The trade was a 4.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.67, for a total value of $691,398.30. Following the sale, the director directly owned 12,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,451,160.43. The trade was a 16.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 42,705 shares of company stock valued at $11,450,948 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Progressive by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,022,956 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $15,289,037,000 after acquiring an additional 622,590 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,615,430 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,498,363,000 after purchasing an additional 189,638 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 61.4% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 8,346,133 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,362,039,000 after purchasing an additional 3,174,632 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Progressive by 15.2% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,263,157 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,338,556,000 after acquiring an additional 1,091,828 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,843,045,000. 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.