Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) Shares Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG – Get Rating) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 270,296 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,472 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $22,683,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PFG. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new position in Principal Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $51,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Principal Financial Group by 25.8% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 35,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,607,000 after buying an additional 7,292 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Principal Financial Group by 55.6% in the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,162,000 after buying an additional 5,657 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its position in Principal Financial Group by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 32,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,386,000 after buying an additional 1,564 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,345,000. Institutional investors own 74.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Kenneth A. Mccullum sold 3,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Saturday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $256,733.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,032,458. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFG has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 25th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $79.00 price objective for the company. 92 Resources restated a “downgrade” rating on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Monday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $88.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Monday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $77.31.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

NASDAQ PFG opened at $69.42 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.85 billion, a PE ratio of 4.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.27. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.05 and a 12-month high of $96.17. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $73.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $80.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.54 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $2.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 24.97% and a return on equity of 16.04%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 6.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 31st. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.69%. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.21%.

Principal Financial Group Profile

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Principal Financial Group, Inc engages in the investment management offering business. It offers financial products and services to businesses, individuals, and institutional clients. It operates its business through following segments: Retirement and Income Solutions, Principal Global Investors, Principal International, U.S.