Geode Capital Management LLC Grows Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 0.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,486,682 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,840 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $433,955,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the second quarter worth approximately $3,269,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its position in Principal Financial Group by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 72,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,747,000 after acquiring an additional 2,469 shares during the last quarter. LVW Advisors LLC bought a new position in Principal Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $297,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 12.2% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 397,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,504,000 after purchasing an additional 43,257 shares during the period. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 251.2% during the first quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,695 shares of the company’s stock worth $987,000 after purchasing an additional 8,365 shares during the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Principal Financial Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $81.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $88.90.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Wee Yee Cheong sold 1,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.04, for a total value of $160,470.48. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 81,421 shares in the company, valued at $6,924,041.84. This represents a 2.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Principal Financial Group Stock Down 0.2%

Principal Financial Group stock opened at $84.47 on Friday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.39 and a 1-year high of $90.31. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $81.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.65, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.02.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The company reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.12. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 9.74%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.05 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be issued a $0.79 dividend. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 3rd. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.00%.

Principal Financial Group Profile

Principal Financial Group, Inc provides retirement, asset management, and insurance products and services to businesses, individuals, and institutional clients worldwide. The company operates through Retirement and Income Solutions, Principal Asset Management, and Benefits and Protection segments. The Retirement and Income Solutions segment provides retirement, and related financial products and services.