State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Has $5.23 Million Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D trimmed its holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 9.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 63,116 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,894 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $5,233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $244,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,455 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 21.0% in the 2nd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 3,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 578 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 18,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,487,000 after buying an additional 1,839 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Principal Financial Group

In related news, CEO Deanna D. Strable-Soethout sold 9,300 shares of Principal Financial Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.12, for a total transaction of $884,616.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 144,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,713,260.16. This trade represents a 6.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,965 shares of company stock worth $2,352,460. 1.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on PFG shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $103.00 price target on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $93.00 price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $93.22.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 0.5%

PFG opened at $92.45 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.39 and a 12 month high of $97.88. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $91.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.99.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The company reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.03). Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 14.68%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. Principal Financial Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.010-9.260 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 60.72%.

About Principal Financial Group

Principal Financial Group, commonly known as Principal, is a global financial services company headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa. The firm provides a broad range of retirement, investment management and insurance solutions for individual, employer and institutional clients. Its core businesses include retirement plan services and recordkeeping, asset management, and life and disability insurance, supported by distribution through employers, financial advisors and direct channels.

On the retirement side, Principal offers 401(k) and other workplace retirement plans, individual retirement accounts and annuity products designed to help clients accumulate and manage retirement savings.