Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Position in Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F - Free Report) by 0.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,311,501 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock after selling 40,056 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of Ford Motor worth $43,244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Ford Motor by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 402,083,883 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock valued at $3,980,630,000 after acquiring an additional 57,182,803 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Ford Motor in the 4th quarter valued at about $387,282,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in Ford Motor by 88.0% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 22,512,285 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock valued at $222,872,000 after acquiring an additional 10,535,335 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ford Motor by 2,905.1% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 7,989,463 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock valued at $79,096,000 after buying an additional 7,723,601 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Ford Motor by 21.7% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 29,642,389 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock valued at $293,460,000 after buying an additional 5,295,086 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.74% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Ford Motor

In other Ford Motor news, insider Andrew Frick sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.00, for a total value of $330,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 113,939 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,253,329. This represents a 20.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ford Motor Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of Ford Motor stock traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $11.72. 7,437,780 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 82,625,109. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $46.59 billion, a PE ratio of 9.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $10.56 and a 200-day moving average of $10.02. Ford Motor Company has a 12 month low of $8.44 and a 12 month high of $14.85.

Ford Motor (NYSE:F - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The auto manufacturer reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.16. The company had revenue of $40.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.99 billion. Ford Motor had a return on equity of 13.49% and a net margin of 2.74%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ford Motor Company will post 1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ford Motor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.12%. Ford Motor's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

F has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their price target on Ford Motor from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Ford Motor from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Ford Motor from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Ford Motor from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Ford Motor from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $10.03.

Ford Motor Profile

Ford Motor Company develops, delivers, and services a range of Ford trucks, commercial cars and vans, sport utility vehicles, and Lincoln luxury vehicles worldwide. It operates through Ford Blue, Ford Model e, and Ford Pro; Ford Next; and Ford Credit segments. The company sells Ford and Lincoln vehicles, service parts, and accessories through distributors and dealers, as well as through dealerships to commercial fleet customers, daily rental car companies, and governments.