Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Increases Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 455,175 shares worth about $40.7 million.
• Insiders sold shares recently, including General Counsel George Djurasovic and insider Wee Yee Cheong, with total insider selling over the last 90 days reaching 17,572 shares valued at about $1.78 million.
• Principal Financial Group beat earnings expectations with quarterly EPS of $2.07 versus $2.01 expected, and it also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.82 per share, implying a 3.3% annual yield.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG - Free Report) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 455,175 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 21,768 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.20% of Principal Financial Group worth $40,702,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Principal Financial Group by 9.6% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,370,852 shares of the company's stock worth $982,617,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,991 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Principal Financial Group by 23.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,376,797 shares of the company's stock worth $279,970,000 after purchasing an additional 636,334 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its stake in Principal Financial Group by 62.3% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,023,880 shares of the company's stock worth $167,800,000 after purchasing an additional 776,997 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Principal Financial Group by 2.1% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,615,616 shares of the company's stock worth $133,951,000 after purchasing an additional 33,490 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Principal Financial Group by 84.9% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,103,565 shares of the company's stock worth $90,856,000 after purchasing an additional 506,841 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, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of Principal Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.83, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 10.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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 value of $929,870.58. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 77,188 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,816,056.88. This trade represents a 10.63% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 17,572 shares of company stock worth $1,776,769. Corporate insiders own 1.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on PFG shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $92.00 price target on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. 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 note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Principal Financial Group from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $96.00 to $92.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $95.33.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

PFG opened at $100.50 on Friday. The business's 50 day moving average is $92.76 and its 200-day moving average is $89.78. The stock has a market cap of $21.71 billion, a PE ratio of 14.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.89. 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 twelve month low of $75.00 and a twelve month high of $103.00.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG - Get Free Report) last released 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. The company had revenue of $3.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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, analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. Principal Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 45.78%.

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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