Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. Buys Shares of 209,100 Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Key Points

• Adams Diversified Equity Fund opened a new position in Principal Financial Group, buying 209,100 shares valued at about $18.8 million. Institutional ownership remains heavy, with hedge funds and other investors holding roughly 75.08% of the stock.
• Recent insider selling included transactions by Wee Yee Cheong and General Counsel George Djurasovic, with insiders selling 28,317 shares over the last 90 days. Insiders now own about 1.13% of the company.
• Principal Financial Group reported Q1 earnings of $2.07 per share, topping estimates, and it recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.82 per share. Analysts currently have a Hold consensus on the stock, with an average price target of $100.90.

Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 209,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,842,000. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. owned about 0.10% of Principal Financial Group at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in Principal Financial Group during the first quarter worth about $244,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 24.1% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 7,503 shares of the company's stock valued at $633,000 after purchasing an additional 1,455 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,678 shares of the company's stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 96.2% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,278 shares of the company's stock valued at $181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 37,957 shares of the company's stock worth $3,015,000 after purchasing an additional 3,175 shares in the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 7,534 shares of Principal Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.16, for a total transaction of $777,207.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 66,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,854,259.88. The trade was a 10.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 directly owned 21,906 shares in the company, valued at $2,208,781.98. The trade was a 10.50% 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 sold 28,317 shares of company stock valued at $2,884,902. Insiders own 1.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PFG shares. Bank of America reissued an "underperform" rating and set a $95.00 price objective (down from $98.00) on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Principal Financial Group from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of 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. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $113.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $100.90.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:PFG opened at $107.75 on Friday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.00 and a 1-year high of $112.45. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $103.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $95.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.28 billion, a PE ratio of 15.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.88.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $3.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.81 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This is a positive change 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 3.0%. Principal Financial Group's payout ratio is 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PFG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.