North Dakota State Investment Board Acquires New Shares in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

North Dakota State Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 7,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $673,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in 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 valued at $982,617,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,991 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Principal Financial Group by 23.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,376,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $279,970,000 after purchasing an additional 636,334 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its position in Principal Financial Group by 62.3% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,023,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,800,000 after purchasing an additional 776,997 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Principal Financial Group by 2.1% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,615,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,951,000 after purchasing an additional 33,490 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Principal Financial Group by 84.9% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,103,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,856,000 after purchasing an additional 506,841 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 1.1%

Principal Financial Group stock opened at $103.92 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $94.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market cap of $22.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.89. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.00 and a 12 month high of $104.03.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 prior year, the firm posted $1.81 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a $0.82 dividend. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 45.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on PFG shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “hold” rating and set a $92.00 price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings cut Principal Financial Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $95.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore set a $108.00 price target on Principal Financial Group in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut Principal Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $99.00 to $111.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.10.

Insider Activity at Principal Financial Group

In other Principal Financial Group news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 9,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total value of $929,870.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 77,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,816,056.88. This represents a 10.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.83, for a total value of $259,233.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 21,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,208,781.98. This trade represents a 10.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,572 shares of company stock valued at $1,776,769. Insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

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.