SEB Asset Management AB Makes New Investment in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

SEB Asset Management AB bought a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 48,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,403,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,370,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $982,617,000 after buying an additional 1,083,991 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 23.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,376,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,970,000 after buying an additional 636,334 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Principal Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $273,276,000. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Principal Financial Group by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,079,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,674,000 after acquiring an additional 55,669 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Principal Financial Group by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,498,766 shares of the company’s stock worth $220,416,000 after acquiring an additional 135,631 shares during the period. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Principal Financial Group news, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.83, for a total transaction of $259,233.93. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 21,906 shares in the company, valued at $2,208,781.98. This represents a 10.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 9,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total value of $929,870.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 77,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,816,056.88. The trade was a 10.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 28,317 shares of company stock valued at $2,884,902 over the last quarter. 1.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PFG opened at $108.25 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.38 billion, a PE ratio of 15.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $107.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.17. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.00 and a twelve month high of $114.90.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.4 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PFG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Atlantic Securities set a $94.00 price objective on Principal Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $113.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $95.00 price objective (down from $98.00) on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Principal Financial Group from $114.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Principal Financial Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.00.

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.