Marshall Wace LLP Buys Shares of 4,531 Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI)

Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in shares of Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 4,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,230,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PRI. Barclays PLC boosted its stake 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. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Primerica by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,699,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Primerica in the 3rd quarter worth $336,000. Forthright Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Primerica in the 3rd quarter worth $202,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on PRI shares. StockNews.com downgraded Primerica from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Primerica from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Primerica in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $311.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Primerica from $313.00 to $304.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $309.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Nicholas Adam Jendusa sold 234 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.15, for a total transaction of $65,555.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,030. This represents a 53.92 % 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, 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 value of $565,800.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 13,301 shares in the company, valued at $3,762,852.90. This trade represents a 13.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,234 shares of company stock valued at $1,476,575. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Primerica Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:PRI opened at $264.76 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $272.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $280.93. Primerica, Inc. has a 12-month low of $211.53 and a 12-month high of $307.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.26 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Primerica Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from Primerica’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. Primerica’s payout ratio is currently 30.25%.

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.