Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Purchases 76 Shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,554 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Primerica were worth $965,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Primerica during the fourth quarter worth about $34,191,000. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Primerica during the 4th quarter worth approximately $10,703,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Primerica during the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,767,000. Amundi bought a new position in Primerica in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,868,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Primerica by 3.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 696,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $184,807,000 after buying an additional 25,951 shares during the period. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Primerica news, CEO Glenn J. Williams sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.74, for a total value of $845,220.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 33,322 shares in the company, valued at $9,388,140.28. This represents a 8.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, President Peter W. Schneider sold 2,000 shares of Primerica stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.90, for a total value of $565,800.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 13,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,762,852.90. This represents a 13.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,234 shares of company stock valued at $1,476,575 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Primerica from $313.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Primerica from $313.00 to $304.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Primerica in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $311.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com lowered Primerica from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Primerica from $315.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $309.86.

Primerica Stock Performance

PRI opened at $288.27 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $286.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $282.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.59 billion, a PE ratio of 20.96 and a beta of 1.12. Primerica, Inc. has a 52-week low of $184.76 and a 52-week high of $307.91.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $5.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.81 by $0.22. Primerica had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 15.14%. On average, research analysts forecast that Primerica, Inc. will post 20.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Primerica Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. This is a boost from Primerica’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Primerica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.25%.

Primerica Profile

Primerica, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides financial products and services to middle-income households in the United States and Canada. The company operates in four segments: Term Life Insurance; Investment and Savings Products; Senior Health; and Corporate and Other Distributed Products.