APG Asset Management N.V. Trims Holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Key Points

• APG Asset Management N.V. reduced its stake in Principal Financial Group by 3.2%, holding 122,900 shares worth approximately $9.6 million after offloading 4,100 shares in the last quarter.
• Several institutional investors significantly increased their positions in Principal Financial Group, with Victory Capital Management boosting its stake by 802.2% to own over 3.7 million shares valued at $312.8 million.
• Principal Financial Group declared a quarterly dividend of $0.78, up from the previous $0.76, yielding a 3.9% annualized rate.

APG Asset Management N.V. lessened its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 122,900 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,100 shares during the quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. owned about 0.05% of Principal Financial Group worth $9,599,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in Principal Financial Group by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 6,048 shares of the company's stock worth $468,000 after buying an additional 1,245 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in Principal Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $630,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Principal Financial Group by 86.5% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 191,092 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,792,000 after purchasing an additional 88,656 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in Principal Financial Group by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 14,638 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,133,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Principal Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $389,000. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PFG. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Principal Financial Group from $73.00 to $72.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $86.90.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of Principal Financial Group stock traded up $0.29 on Friday, hitting $80.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 974,695 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,392,479. The company has a market capitalization of $17.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.00. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.39 and a 52-week high of $91.97. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $79.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.19. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 14.68%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. Principal Financial Group's payout ratio is currently 62.78%.

About Principal Financial Group

Principal Financial Group, Inc provides retirement, asset management, and insurance products and services to businesses, individuals, and institutional clients worldwide. The company operates through Retirement and Income Solutions, Principal Asset Management, and Benefits and Protection segments. The Retirement and Income Solutions segment provides retirement, and related financial products and services.