Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stake in HealthEquity, Inc. (NASDAQ:HQY)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in HealthEquity, Inc. (NASDAQ:HQY - Free Report) by 1.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 266,841 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 3,873 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.31% of HealthEquity worth $23,581,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its stake in HealthEquity by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 33,856 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,248,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of HealthEquity by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 384 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its position in shares of HealthEquity by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 19,286 shares of the company's stock worth $1,850,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its position in shares of HealthEquity by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 13,326 shares of the company's stock worth $1,279,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Level Four Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of HealthEquity by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,736 shares of the company's stock worth $263,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.55% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on HQY shares. Barrington Research increased their target price on HealthEquity from $112.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on HealthEquity from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on HealthEquity from $94.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $120.00 price objective (up previously from $115.00) on shares of HealthEquity in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price objective on HealthEquity from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $118.55.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Elimelech Rosner sold 58,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.56, for a total value of $6,528,480.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 75,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,519,553.84. This trade represents a 43.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Michael Henry Fiore sold 1,794 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.73, for a total value of $182,503.62. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 53,225 shares in the company, valued at $5,414,579.25. The trade was a 3.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 291,744 shares of company stock valued at $32,705,007 over the last ninety days. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

HealthEquity Price Performance

HQY traded down $3.14 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $99.98. The stock had a trading volume of 994,477 shares, compared to its average volume of 865,507. The stock has a market cap of $8.65 billion, a PE ratio of 72.98, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 4.06 and a current ratio of 4.06. HealthEquity, Inc. has a one year low of $65.01 and a one year high of $116.65. The business has a 50-day moving average of $100.43 and a 200-day moving average of $98.39.

HealthEquity (NASDAQ:HQY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, June 3rd. The company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.16. HealthEquity had a return on equity of 11.01% and a net margin of 9.80%. The business had revenue of $330.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $322.25 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that HealthEquity, Inc. will post 2.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About HealthEquity

HealthEquity, Inc provides technology-enabled services platforms to consumers and employers in the United States. The company offers cloud-based platforms for individuals to make health saving and spending decisions, pay healthcare bills, receive personalized benefit information, earn wellness incentives, grow their savings, and make investment choices; and health savings accounts.