Bamco Inc. NY Sells 56,464 Shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI)

Bamco Inc. NY lessened its holdings in Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,655,547 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 56,464 shares during the period. Primerica makes up about 1.2% of Bamco Inc. NY’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Bamco Inc. NY owned about 4.96% of Primerica worth $449,349,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 10,635 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Primerica during the third quarter worth approximately $336,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Primerica by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Primerica in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Primerica by 20.2% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 11,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,251,000 after purchasing an additional 2,010 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Primerica news, CEO Glenn J. Williams sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.74, for a total transaction of $845,220.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,322 shares in the company, valued at $9,388,140.28. This represents a 8.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Adam Jendusa sold 234 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.15, for a total transaction of $65,555.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,030. This represents a 53.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,234 shares of company stock worth $1,476,575. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Primerica Price Performance

Shares of PRI opened at $265.41 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.30 and a beta of 1.02. Primerica, Inc. has a 1-year low of $211.54 and a 1-year high of $307.91. The company has a 50-day moving average of $271.54 and a 200 day moving average of $280.56.

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $5.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analysts anticipate that Primerica, Inc. will post 20.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Primerica Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. Primerica’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.25%.

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.