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

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Primerica during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Primerica by 129.1% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Primerica by 116.2% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Primerica by 65.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Primerica by 629.2% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Nicholas Adam Jendusa sold 234 shares of Primerica stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.15, for a total transaction of $65,555.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,030. The trade was a 53.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $845,220.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 33,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,388,140.28. This represents a 8.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,234 shares of company stock valued at $1,476,575. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Primerica Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PRI opened at $288.27 on Wednesday. Primerica, Inc. has a 1 year low of $184.76 and a 1 year high of $307.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.96 and a beta of 1.12. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $286.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $282.43.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $5.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Primerica, Inc. will post 20.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Primerica Increases Dividend

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