9,552 Shares in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG Purchased by Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC

Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 9,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $861,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PFG. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 9.6% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,370,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $982,617,000 after buying an additional 1,083,991 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,376,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,970,000 after purchasing an additional 636,334 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Principal Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $273,276,000. Morgan Stanley boosted 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 valued at $271,674,000 after buying an additional 55,669 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,498,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,416,000 after acquiring an additional 135,631 shares during the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 7,534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.16, for a total value of $777,207.44. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 66,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,854,259.88. The trade was a 10.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.83, for a total value of $259,233.93. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 21,906 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,208,781.98. The trade was a 10.50% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 28,317 shares of company stock worth $2,884,902 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Stock Up 1.5%

Principal Financial Group stock opened at $112.55 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $24.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.01, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.88. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.00 and a 52-week high of $112.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $105.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $96.23.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.06. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 10.10% and a return on equity of 16.25%. The company had revenue of $3.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.81 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.37 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 46.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Principal Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $99.00 to $111.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Principal Financial Group from a “sell” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Principal Financial Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.40.

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.