Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG Shares Sold by National Pension Service

Key Points

• National Pension Service sharply cut its stake in Principal Financial Group, selling 364,362 shares in the fourth quarter and reducing its holdings by 93.9% to 23,684 shares worth about $2.1 million.
• Insiders also sold shares recently, including General Counsel George Djurasovic and insider Wee Yee Cheong, with insiders selling 28,317 shares total over the last three months. Insiders now own 1.13% of the company.
• Principal Financial Group boosted its dividend to $0.82 per quarter from $0.80, implying an annualized payout of $3.28 and a yield of about 3.2%. The company also beat quarterly EPS estimates, reporting $2.07 versus $2.01 expected.

National Pension Service reduced its stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG - Free Report) by 93.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,684 shares of the company's stock after selling 364,362 shares during the period. National Pension Service's holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $2,089,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 9.6% in the 2nd 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. raised its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 23.2% in the 3rd 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 raised its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 62.3% in the 3rd 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 raised its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,639,302 shares of the company's stock worth $144,603,000 after purchasing an additional 23,686 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 84.9% in the 3rd 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Principal Financial Group news, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.83, for a total value of $259,233.93. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 21,906 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,208,781.98. This represents a 10.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 7,534 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.16, for a total transaction of $777,207.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 66,443 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,854,259.88. This trade represents a 10.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 28,317 shares of company stock valued at $2,884,902. Insiders own 1.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on PFG. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Principal Financial Group from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Principal Financial Group from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $111.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $96.00 to $92.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Evercore set a $108.00 price target on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Monday, April 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $98.10.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

PFG stock opened at $102.90 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $22.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.88. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.00 and a 12 month high of $105.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $96.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.27.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 posted $1.81 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a $0.82 dividend. 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. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Principal Financial Group's payout ratio is currently 45.78%.

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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