Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Given New $280.00 Price Target at The Goldman Sachs Group

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its price target raised by equities researchers at The Goldman Sachs Group from $262.00 to $280.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price points to a potential upside of 8.99% from the stock’s previous close.

PGR has been the topic of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $210.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Progressive from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Progressive from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Progressive from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $257.18.

Progressive Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of PGR stock opened at $256.91 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $150.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.35. Progressive has a 1 year low of $137.59 and a 1 year high of $260.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $231.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $216.02.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.54 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 10.17%. The company’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.57 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Progressive will post 12.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total transaction of $9,281,827.71. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 517,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $110,665,641.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Progressive news, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 43,371 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.01, for a total value of $9,281,827.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 517,105 shares in the company, valued at $110,665,641.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Philip Bleser sold 2,129 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.08, for a total value of $466,421.32. Following the transaction, the director now owns 974 shares in the company, valued at $213,383.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 146,704 shares of company stock worth $33,367,408 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,022,000. Sycomore Asset Management boosted its holdings in Progressive by 9.5% in the second quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 28,128 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,856,000 after acquiring an additional 2,450 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the second quarter valued at approximately $728,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the second quarter worth approximately $366,000. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 53.4% during the second quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 1,844 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $383,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the period. 85.34% of the stock is owned by 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.