Acropolis Investment Management LLC Has $827,000 Stock Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG)

Acropolis Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG – Get Rating) by 35.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,860 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,416 shares during the period. Acropolis Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $827,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PFG. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the first quarter worth about $51,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 25.8% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 35,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,607,000 after buying an additional 7,292 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 55.6% during the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,162,000 after purchasing an additional 5,657 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 5.1% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 32,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,386,000 after purchasing an additional 1,564 shares during the period. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group during the first quarter worth approximately $1,345,000. 74.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on PFG. Credit Suisse Group cut shares of Principal Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $86.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, December 8th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $89.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $61.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $88.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $78.64.

Principal Financial Group Trading Down 3.5 %

NASDAQ:PFG opened at $69.99 on Friday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $61.05 and a 12 month high of $96.17. The firm has a market cap of $17.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company’s 50 day moving average is $87.41 and its 200-day moving average is $85.04.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 31st. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 27.51% and a return on equity of 15.98%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.85 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be paid a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 14th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.66%. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is 13.60%.

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.