California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 3,753 Shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI)

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its stake in shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI - Free Report) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 85,833 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,753 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.25% of Primerica worth $17,661,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of Primerica by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 8,166 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,680,000 after purchasing an additional 764 shares in the last quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Primerica in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $305,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Primerica in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,016,000. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in Primerica in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Primerica during the 4th quarter worth $474,000. 90.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Primerica

In related news, President Peter W. Schneider sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.41, for a total value of $365,115.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 13,259 shares in the company, valued at $3,227,373.19. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, President Peter W. Schneider sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.41, for a total value of $365,115.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 13,259 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,227,373.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Gregory C. Pitts sold 3,759 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.43, for a total transaction of $922,571.37. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 3,379 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $829,307.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 6,708 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,677 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James cut shares of Primerica from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Primerica from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Primerica from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Primerica from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Primerica from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Primerica currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $245.50.

Primerica Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE:PRI traded down $2.93 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $211.75. 205,420 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 161,842. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $239.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $223.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.33 and a beta of 1.06. Primerica, Inc. has a 12 month low of $173.00 and a 12 month high of $256.56.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.27 by ($0.02). Primerica had a return on equity of 27.83% and a net margin of 20.37%. The company had revenue of $726.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $723.64 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.49 EPS. The company's revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Primerica, Inc. will post 17.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Primerica Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. This is a positive change from Primerica's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 20th. Primerica's payout ratio is currently 18.89%.

About Primerica

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.