Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG Shares Purchased by Bank of America Corp DE

Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) by 5.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,819,452 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 420,319 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 4.08% of Principal Financial Group worth $794,721,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Principal Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $273,276,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 112.8% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,348,233 shares of the company’s stock worth $207,138,000 after buying an additional 1,244,668 shares during the period. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 62.3% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,023,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $167,800,000 after buying an additional 776,997 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 23.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,376,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $279,970,000 after buying an additional 636,334 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 597.5% during the fourth quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP now owns 608,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,713,000 after buying an additional 521,626 shares during the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PFG. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Principal Financial Group from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Evercore set a $108.00 price target on Principal Financial Group in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $114.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $101.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.75.

Principal Financial Group Trading Down 0.2%

Principal Financial Group stock opened at $113.73 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.00 and a 12 month high of $114.95. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $109.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $99.15. The firm has a market cap of $24.35 billion, a PE ratio of 16.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.88.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.33 by $0.17. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 9.93% and a return on equity of 16.49%. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.16 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be given a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 46.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Principal Financial Group

In other Principal Financial Group news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 7,534 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.16, for a total value of $777,207.44. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 66,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,854,259.88. This trade represents a 10.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

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.