Swiss National Bank Cuts Holdings in Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI)

Swiss National Bank lowered its holdings in shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI - Free Report) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 64,700 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,800 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.20% of Primerica worth $18,409,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of PRI. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Primerica by 39,199.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 443,298 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $126,132,000 after acquiring an additional 442,170 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Primerica during the fourth quarter worth $34,191,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Primerica by 254.5% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 116,271 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,558,000 after buying an additional 83,477 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Primerica by 2,508.8% during the fourth quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 57,499 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $15,606,000 after buying an additional 55,295 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Primerica by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 347,040 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $94,194,000 after buying an additional 46,935 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Glenn J. Williams sold 2,500 shares of Primerica stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.20, for a total transaction of $655,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 36,392 shares in the company, valued at $9,541,982.40. This trade represents a 6.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PRI shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Primerica from $274.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Primerica from $315.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Primerica from $293.00 to $283.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $313.57.

Primerica Stock Down 0.6%

NYSE:PRI traded down $1.48 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $261.36. The company had a trading volume of 133,668 shares, compared to its average volume of 163,494. The firm has a market cap of $8.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.91 and a beta of 0.99. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $264.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $271.01. Primerica, Inc. has a twelve month low of $230.98 and a twelve month high of $307.91.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $5.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.18 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $796.02 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $790.99 million. Primerica had a net margin of 21.48% and a return on equity of 32.42%. The business's quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Primerica, Inc. will post 20.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Primerica Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. Primerica's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.55%.

Primerica Company 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.