6,159 Shares in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG Bought by AXQ Capital LP

AXQ Capital LP bought a new position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 6,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $543,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PFG. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. grew its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 343.6% in the fourth quarter. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. now owns 346 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the third quarter worth $32,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 66.5% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 398 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 3,754.5% in the fourth quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 424 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the general counsel directly owned 21,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,208,781.98. This represents a 10.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 9,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total value of $929,870.58. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 77,188 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,816,056.88. The trade was a 10.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 28,317 shares of company stock worth $2,884,902. Corporate insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:PFG opened at $101.19 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $21.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.48, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.00 and a 1 year high of $105.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $97.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.51.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.25% and a net margin of 10.10%.During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.81 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $92.00 target price on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings cut Principal Financial Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Evercore set a $108.00 target price on Principal Financial Group in a research note on Monday, April 27th. UBS Group increased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $95.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Principal Financial Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.10.

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.