Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases New Shares in TriNet Group, Inc. $TNET

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group acquired 81,939 TriNet Group shares worth approximately $2.99 million during the first quarter, joining other institutions that increased their positions. Institutional investors now own 96.81% of TriNet’s outstanding stock.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious, with one Buy, five Hold and one Sell rating. The consensus rating is Hold, with an average price target of $55.80.
• TriNet exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $2.48 in earnings per share versus the $1.84 estimate and $1.23 billion in revenue, although revenue declined 5.1% year over year. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.29 per share, representing a 1.6% annualized yield.

Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in TriNet Group, Inc. (NYSE:TNET - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 81,939 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,985,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.18% of TriNet Group at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of TriNet Group by 4.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 19,009 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,506,000 after acquiring an additional 819 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of TriNet Group by 3,995.7% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 138,926 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $11,008,000 after acquiring an additional 135,534 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in TriNet Group by 0.6% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 76,575 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,068,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in TriNet Group during the first quarter worth about $3,204,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in TriNet Group by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 16,862 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,577 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.81% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on TNET. Weiss Ratings raised shares of TriNet Group from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of TriNet Group from $62.00 to $48.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of TriNet Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on TriNet Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded TriNet Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $55.80.

TriNet Group Stock Performance

Shares of TriNet Group stock opened at $70.47 on Thursday. TriNet Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.60 and a fifty-two week high of $72.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.80, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.04 and a beta of 0.99. The company's 50 day moving average price is $51.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.81.

TriNet Group (NYSE:TNET - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.64. TriNet Group had a net margin of 3.22% and a return on equity of 219.54%. The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.99 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that TriNet Group, Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TriNet Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 1st were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 1st. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. TriNet Group's payout ratio is currently 34.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other TriNet Group news, SVP Anthony Shea Treadway sold 933 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.46, for a total value of $40,548.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 67,678 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,941,285.88. This represents a 1.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 40.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

TriNet Group Profile

TriNet Group, Inc is a leading professional employer organization (PEO) that offers integrated human capital management solutions to small and medium-size businesses. Through a bundled suite of services, TriNet manages payroll administration, employee benefits, workers' compensation, risk mitigation and federal and state compliance. Its cloud-based platform provides clients with centralized access to HR tools, analytics and streamlined workforce management capabilities.

Founded in 1988 and headquartered in Dublin, California, TriNet has grown to support thousands of organizations across the United States.

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