Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Has $38.17 Million Holdings in Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lessened its stake in shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI - Free Report) by 40.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 140,615 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 96,406 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 0.42% of Primerica worth $38,167,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quantessence Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Primerica during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $264,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in Primerica by 272.2% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 4,265 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,155,000 after purchasing an additional 3,119 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in Primerica by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 64,283 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $17,448,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the period. Mirabella Financial Services LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Primerica in the fourth quarter valued at $1,622,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Primerica by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 18,818 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,108,000 after buying an additional 1,321 shares during the period. 90.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Primerica Stock Performance

Shares of Primerica stock traded up $7.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $265.41. 229,844 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 158,406. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $271.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $280.56. Primerica, Inc. has a twelve month low of $211.54 and a twelve month high of $307.91. The stock has a market cap of $8.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.30 and a beta of 1.02.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $5.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.81 by $0.22. Primerica had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 31.11%. On average, equities research analysts expect 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 dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. This is an increase from Primerica's previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Primerica's dividend payout ratio is presently 30.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Primerica

In other Primerica news, President Peter W. Schneider sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.90, for a total transaction of $565,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn J. Williams sold 3,000 shares of Primerica stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.74, for a total transaction of $845,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,388,140.28. This represents a 8.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,234 shares of company stock worth $1,476,575 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on PRI shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Primerica from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Primerica from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Primerica in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a "market perform" rating and a $311.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Primerica from $313.00 to $304.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Six equities research 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 company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $309.14.

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.