New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 3,884 Shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its holdings in shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI - Free Report) by 12.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,283 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,884 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.08% of Primerica worth $5,614,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PRI. Trust Point Inc. purchased a new position in Primerica in the fourth quarter valued at about $339,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Primerica during the fourth quarter worth about $2,016,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Primerica by 44.1% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 84,938 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $16,479,000 after purchasing an additional 25,981 shares during the period. James Investment Research Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Primerica during the third quarter worth about $1,054,000. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Primerica during the third quarter worth about $6,098,000. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Gregory C. Pitts sold 3,759 shares of Primerica stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.43, for a total value of $922,571.37. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 3,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $829,307.97. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director John A. Jr. Addison sold 1,215 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.00, for a total transaction of $302,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,467 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,100,283. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Gregory C. Pitts sold 3,759 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.43, for a total transaction of $922,571.37. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 3,379 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $829,307.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 6,708 shares of company stock worth $1,648,677. Insiders own 0.85% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Primerica Stock Performance

Shares of Primerica stock traded down $1.35 on Friday, hitting $217.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 199,217 shares, compared to its average volume of 291,986. Primerica, Inc. has a 1 year low of $173.00 and a 1 year high of $256.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $237.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $223.21. The company has a market capitalization of $7.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.73 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Primerica Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 21st were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. This is a boost from Primerica's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 20th. Primerica's payout ratio is presently 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.