Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target Raised to $302.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its price target boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $299.00 to $302.00 in a research report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

PGR has been the topic of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Progressive from $257.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Progressive from $242.00 to $251.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Progressive from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $273.81.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR stock opened at $240.28 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $140.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30. Progressive has a 1 year low of $154.38 and a 1 year high of $270.62. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $253.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $237.60.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.95 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. On average, equities analysts predict that Progressive will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.17%. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.91%.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total transaction of $748,678.15. Following the sale, the insider now owns 26,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,618,555.95. This represents a 10.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,839 shares of company stock worth $6,718,965 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brookstone Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 2nd quarter valued at $200,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Progressive by 6.6% in the second quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,921 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,476,000 after acquiring an additional 737 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its position in Progressive by 14.2% in the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 142,798 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,661,000 after acquiring an additional 17,794 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Progressive by 12.9% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,184 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $454,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 2,047 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Progressive

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.