Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) Insider Sells $109,080.00 in Stock

Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 1,080 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.00, for a total value of $109,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 91,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,201,908. The trade was a 1.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:PFG traded up $1.28 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $100.91. The stock had a trading volume of 1,256,765 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,646,990. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $92.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $89.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.87. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $73.57 and a one year high of $101.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.24.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.25% and a net margin of 10.10%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.81 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.92%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Principal Financial Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Management Corp VA increased its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 19.2% during the third quarter. Capital Management Corp VA now owns 172,736 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,322,000 after buying an additional 27,857 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 160.3% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 48,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,978,000 after buying an additional 30,118 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd increased its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 41.5% during the third quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 127,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,504,000 after buying an additional 37,357 shares during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $18,526,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 21.1% during the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 215,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,896,000 after buying an additional 37,676 shares during the period. 75.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFG has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $103.00 price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Evercore set a $108.00 price objective on Principal Financial Group in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.33.

About Principal Financial Group

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ: PFG) is a global financial services company headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, that provides a range of retirement, investment and insurance solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. The firm’s business is organized around retirement services, asset management, and insurance products designed to help clients plan, invest for, and protect income over the long term.

Principal’s product and service offerings include retirement plan recordkeeping and administration for employer-sponsored plans, individual and group retirement annuities, life and disability insurance, employee benefits solutions, and wealth management services.