3,098,015 Shares in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG Acquired by Norges Bank

Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 3,098,015 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $273,276,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.39% of Principal Financial Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFG. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in Principal Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. lifted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 343.6% during the fourth quarter. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. now owns 346 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Principal Financial Group during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 66.5% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 398 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 3,754.5% during the fourth quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 424 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.08% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on PFG shares. Evercore set a $108.00 target price on Principal Financial Group in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Barclays lifted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $92.00 price target on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted 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, May 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered Principal Financial Group from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $99.00 to $111.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $98.10.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 0.4%

PFG opened at $103.31 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $22.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.88. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.00 and a 52 week high of $105.00. The business's 50 day moving average is $96.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3.53 billion for 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 company posted $1.81 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a $0.82 dividend. 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 presently 46.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.83, for a total value of $259,233.93. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 21,906 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,208,781.98. The trade was a 10.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 9,183 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 28,317 shares of company stock worth $2,884,902. Corporate insiders own 1.13% of the company's stock.

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.

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