Bank of America Has Lowered Expectations for Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Stock Price

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its target price reduced by equities researchers at Bank of America from $318.00 to $300.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 9.81% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on PGR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $251.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $264.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $281.06.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of PGR stock opened at $273.19 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $260.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $254.70. Progressive has a 12 month low of $201.34 and a 12 month high of $292.99. The firm has a market cap of $160.14 billion, a PE ratio of 18.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. Equities research analysts expect that Progressive will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total value of $2,386,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,530,756.28. This trade represents a 3.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $46,241.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $964,042.20. The trade was a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 65,495 shares of company stock worth $16,668,034 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Progressive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Progressive by 54.7% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 3,000.0% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.