Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Cuts Stock Position in Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its position in shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI - Free Report) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 595,087 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 22,163 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 1.78% of Primerica worth $161,515,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Primerica by 108.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 20,471 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,428,000 after acquiring an additional 10,635 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Primerica by 2.2% in the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,408 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,699,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Primerica in the third quarter valued at approximately $336,000. Forthright Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Primerica during the third quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Primerica by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,128 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $306,000 after buying an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Glenn J. Williams sold 3,000 shares of the firm'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 value of $845,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 33,322 shares in the company, valued at $9,388,140.28. This trade represents a 8.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $65,555.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 200 shares in the company, valued at $56,030. This represents a 53.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,234 shares of company stock worth $1,476,575. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PRI. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Primerica from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Primerica in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $311.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Primerica from $313.00 to $304.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Primerica from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $309.14.

Primerica Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PRI traded down $3.11 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $261.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 262,415 shares, compared to its average volume of 157,887. Primerica, Inc. has a 12 month low of $211.53 and a 12 month high of $307.91. The stock has a market cap of $8.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.03 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $272.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $280.79.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $5.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Primerica, Inc. will post 20.6 EPS for the current year.

Primerica Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 is an increase from Primerica's previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Primerica's payout ratio is presently 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.