Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 40,056 Shares of Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F - Free Report) by 0.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,311,501 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock after selling 40,056 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.11% of Ford Motor worth $43,244,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Ford Motor by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 402,083,883 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock valued at $3,980,630,000 after purchasing an additional 57,182,803 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ford Motor by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 84,078,284 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock valued at $830,662,000 after purchasing an additional 2,089,127 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Ford Motor by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 46,508,882 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock valued at $460,444,000 after purchasing an additional 4,925,993 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Ford Motor in the fourth quarter valued at $387,282,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Ford Motor by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 37,314,829 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock valued at $369,417,000 after purchasing an additional 3,699,857 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.74% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Ford Motor

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Ford Motor from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Citigroup raised their target price on Ford Motor from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays raised their target price on Ford Motor from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Ford Motor from $8.50 to $9.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Ford Motor from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $10.03.

Ford Motor Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:F traded up $0.08 on Thursday, hitting $11.91. The company had a trading volume of 67,202,545 shares, compared to its average volume of 83,057,233. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $10.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.05. Ford Motor Company has a 1 year low of $8.44 and a 1 year high of $14.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.49.

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

Ford Motor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given 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 yield of 5.04%. Ford Motor's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.00%.

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.