Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG Shares Sold by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp trimmed its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) by 1.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,190,553 shares of the company’s stock after selling 23,330 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $107,281,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth about $273,276,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 112.8% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,348,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $207,138,000 after purchasing an additional 1,244,668 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 9.6% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,370,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $982,617,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,991 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 62.3% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,023,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $167,800,000 after purchasing an additional 776,997 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Principal Financial Group by 23.2% in the third 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. 75.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Principal Financial Group

In other news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 9,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total transaction of $929,870.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 77,188 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,816,056.88. This represents a 10.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 21,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,208,781.98. This represents a 10.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 28,317 shares of company stock valued at $2,884,902. Corporate insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Atlantic Securities set a $94.00 target price on Principal Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Evercore set a $108.00 target price on Principal Financial Group in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Principal Financial Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Principal Financial Group from $100.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.83.

Principal Financial Group Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ PFG opened at $112.06 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $24.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.88. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.00 and a 12-month high of $114.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $107.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.88.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $3.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.81 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.4 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is a positive change 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 46.92%.

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.