Insider Selling: Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) Insider Sells 7,534 Shares of Stock

Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 7,534 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.16, for a total transaction of $777,207.44. Following the transaction, the insider owned 66,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,854,259.88. The trade was a 10.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Wee Yee Cheong also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, May 20th, Wee Yee Cheong sold 3,211 shares of Principal Financial Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.06, for a total transaction of $330,925.66.
• On Thursday, April 30th, Wee Yee Cheong sold 4,737 shares of Principal Financial Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.01, for a total transaction of $478,484.37.
• On Friday, May 1st, Wee Yee Cheong sold 9,183 shares of Principal Financial Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total transaction of $929,870.58.
• On Wednesday, April 29th, Wee Yee Cheong sold 1,080 shares of Principal Financial Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.00, for a total transaction of $109,080.00.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

PFG stock traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $104.32. The stock had a trading volume of 112,495 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,548,079. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.53 billion, a PE ratio of 14.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.23. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.00 and a fifty-two week high of $104.68.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $3.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 10.10% and a return on equity of 16.25%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.81 EPS. Analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is 45.78%.

Institutional Trading of Principal Financial Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PFG. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the 1st quarter worth $244,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 7,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $633,000 after acquiring an additional 1,455 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $395,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 96.2% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 37,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,015,000 after acquiring an additional 3,175 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on PFG shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $92.00 price target on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Principal Financial Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $96.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.10.

Principal Financial Group Company Profile

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.