BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 226,252 Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Key Points

• BNP Paribas Financial Markets cut its stake in Principal Financial Group by 28.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 226,252 shares and leaving it with 577,889 shares valued at about $51 million.
• Company insiders also sold stock recently, including General Counsel George Djurasovic and insider Wee Yee Cheong, with insiders selling 28,317 shares over the last 90 days.
• Principal Financial Group reported quarterly EPS of $2.07, topping estimates, and raised its dividend to $0.82 per share from $0.80, implying a 3.2% yield.

BNP Paribas Financial Markets decreased its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG - Free Report) by 28.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 577,889 shares of the company's stock after selling 226,252 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned 0.26% of Principal Financial Group worth $50,976,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. grew its holdings 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 valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. FWL Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 66.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 3,754.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.08% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Principal Financial Group

In other news, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of Principal Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.83, for a total transaction 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 $2,208,781.98. The trade was a 10.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 9,183 shares of Principal Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total transaction of $929,870.58. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 77,188 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,816,056.88. This trade represents a 10.63% 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 have sold 28,317 shares of company stock valued at $2,884,902. Insiders own 1.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PFG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a "hold" rating and set a $92.00 price target on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings cut Principal Financial Group from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial downgraded Principal Financial Group from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $111.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Evercore set a $108.00 price objective on Principal Financial Group in a report on Monday, April 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $98.10.

Principal Financial Group Stock Up 0.4%

Principal Financial Group stock 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 price is $96.69 and its 200 day moving average price 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 10.10% and a return on equity of 16.25%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.81 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.82 per share. 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 dividend yield of 3.2%. Principal Financial Group's payout ratio is presently 46.92%.

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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