California State Teachers Retirement System Decreases Stock Holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

California State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 397,874 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,623 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.18% of Principal Financial Group worth $35,852,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Principal Financial Group by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,370,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $982,617,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,991 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,886,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,187,000 after buying an additional 119,327 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 23.2% in the 3rd 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 position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $273,276,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,079,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,674,000 after buying an additional 55,669 shares during the period. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Principal Financial Group

In related news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 7,534 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.16, for a total value of $777,207.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 66,443 shares in the company, valued at $6,854,259.88. This trade represents a 10.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Principal Financial Group Trading Down 0.2%

PFG opened at $113.73 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.00 and a 52 week high of $114.95. The stock has a market cap of $24.35 billion, a PE ratio of 16.15, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a 50 day moving average of $109.18 and a 200-day moving average of $99.15.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.33 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.11 billion. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.49% and a net margin of 9.93%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.16 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Principal Financial Group from $114.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup lowered shares of Principal Financial Group from a “sell” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut shares of Principal Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $99.00 to $111.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $105.75.

Principal Financial Group 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.