Bank of America Cuts Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target to $300.00

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) had its price objective dropped by research analysts at Bank of America from $318.00 to $300.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the insurance provider's stock. Bank of America's target price indicates a potential upside of 9.46% from the stock's current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on PGR. Raymond James raised shares of Progressive from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Progressive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Barclays lifted their price target 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. UBS Group increased their price target on Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered Progressive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $281.06.

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Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR traded up $1.21 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $274.07. 2,553,247 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,433,886. Progressive has a 12 month low of $201.34 and a 12 month high of $292.99. The company's 50 day moving average price is $262.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $255.19. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $160.66 billion, a PE ratio of 19.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.64. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. As a group, analysts predict that Progressive will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 11,021 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.29, for a total value of $2,681,299.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 473,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,255,231.44. This represents a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Mariann Wojtkun Marshall sold 191 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total transaction of $46,241.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $964,042.20. This represents a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 65,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,767,455 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGR. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $54,000. 111 Capital bought a new stake in Progressive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,134,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Progressive by 36.4% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 175,853 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $42,136,000 after buying an additional 46,915 shares during the period. TFR Capital LLC. bought a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,712,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $118,434,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.34% of the company's stock.

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.