Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target Raised to $256.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its price objective upped by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $251.00 to $256.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 5.69% from the stock’s previous close.

PGR has been the topic of several other reports. StockNews.com upgraded Progressive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $277.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Progressive from $299.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Raymond James raised shares of Progressive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Progressive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.94.

Progressive Price Performance

PGR opened at $242.22 on Friday. Progressive has a 52-week low of $161.56 and a 52-week high of $270.62. The company has a 50 day moving average of $251.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $240.09. The company has a market cap of $141.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The insurance provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.18. Progressive had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 33.10%. The firm had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.95 billion. On average, analysts expect that Progressive will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Progressive

In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 2,981 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total value of $748,678.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,353 shares in the company, valued at $6,618,555.95. The trade was a 10.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.66, for a total value of $2,386,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,530,756.28. This trade represents a 3.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 22,981 shares of company stock valued at $5,816,178. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Progressive by 98.2% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $189,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Progressive by 90.9% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,813 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,983,000 after purchasing an additional 3,720 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Progressive by 84.3% during the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 25,738 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,531,000 after buying an additional 11,770 shares during the last quarter. Sycomore Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Progressive by 9.5% during the second quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 28,128 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,856,000 after buying an additional 2,450 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Progressive by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,067,924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,286,036,000 after buying an additional 330,667 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.