Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target Cut to $280.00 by Analysts at UBS Group

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) had its target price trimmed by UBS Group from $291.00 to $280.00 in a research note released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the insurance provider's stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on PGR. Wall Street Zen raised Progressive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, June 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $288.00 price objective on shares of Progressive in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $328.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Progressive from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given 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 $285.41.

Progressive Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE:PGR traded down $1.29 on Wednesday, reaching $250.35. The stock had a trading volume of 2,533,874 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,798,782. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a 50-day moving average of $273.46 and a 200 day moving average of $265.61. The stock has a market cap of $146.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.37. Progressive has a 12-month low of $207.50 and a 12-month high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. Progressive had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 33.50%. The company had revenue of $22.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.87 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Progressive will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, July 4th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a yield of 0.15%. Progressive's payout ratio is currently 2.70%.

Insider Transactions at Progressive

In other news, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,490 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.67, for a total transaction of $691,398.30. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 12,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,451,160.43. This represents a 16.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.37, for a total transaction of $2,753,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 238,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,544,668.88. This trade represents a 4.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 42,705 shares of company stock valued at $11,450,948. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Progressive by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,022,956 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $15,289,037,000 after acquiring an additional 622,590 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,615,430 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,498,363,000 after acquiring an additional 189,638 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Progressive by 61.4% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 8,346,133 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,362,039,000 after acquiring an additional 3,174,632 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of Progressive by 15.2% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,263,157 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,338,556,000 after acquiring an additional 1,091,828 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter worth $1,843,045,000. Institutional investors 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.