Bank of New York Mellon Corp Has $107.08 Million Holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lessened its position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG - Free Report) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,213,883 shares of the company's stock after selling 20,746 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.54% of Principal Financial Group worth $107,077,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $273,276,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,370,852 shares of the company's stock valued at $982,617,000 after buying an additional 1,083,991 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 62.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,023,880 shares of the company's stock valued at $167,800,000 after buying an additional 776,997 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Principal Financial Group by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,376,797 shares of the company's stock worth $279,970,000 after buying an additional 636,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Principal Financial Group by 84.9% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,103,565 shares of the company's stock worth $90,856,000 after buying an additional 506,841 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore set a $108.00 target price on Principal Financial Group in a report on Monday, April 27th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $92.00 price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $98.10.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PFG opened at $105.22 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.00 and a 12 month high of $105.56. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $97.99 and a 200-day moving average of $92.82. The company has a market capitalization of $22.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.88.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.06. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.25% and a net margin of 10.10%.The business had revenue of $3.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.81 EPS. As a group, equities 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 paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Principal Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is 46.92%.

Insider Activity

In other Principal Financial Group news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 7,534 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.16, for a total transaction of $777,207.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 66,443 shares in the company, valued at $6,854,259.88. This trade represents a 10.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 sale, the general counsel owned 21,906 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,208,781.98. This represents a 10.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 28,317 shares of company stock valued at $2,884,902 in the last ninety days. 1.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Principal Financial Group 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.

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