Principal Financial Group Inc. Takes $7.80 Million Position in Circle Internet Group, Inc. $CRCL

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group acquired 81,801 Circle Internet Group shares worth approximately $7.8 million in the first quarter. Several other institutional investors, including Invesco and Baird Financial, also initiated positions during the second quarter.
• Circle insiders sold nearly 2 million shares worth about $155.7 million over the past 90 days, primarily through pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans; insiders retain 10.85% ownership.
• CRCL opened at $62.48, well below its 52-week high of $197.90. The company’s latest revenue rose 20% year over year to $694.1 million, but EPS of $0.21 missed estimates, and analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with a $113.25 average price target.

Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Circle Internet Group, Inc. (NYSE:CRCL - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 81,801 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,805,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRCL. Creative Planning bought a new stake in Circle Internet Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $295,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Circle Internet Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,474,000. Invesco Ltd. bought a new stake in Circle Internet Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $47,640,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Circle Internet Group during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Circle Internet Group during the second quarter worth about $2,649,000.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Patrick Sean Neville sold 1,034,396 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.87, for a total value of $85,720,396.52. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,018 shares in the company, valued at $167,231.66. The trade was a 99.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Hossein Razzaghi sold 34,623 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.85, for a total transaction of $2,730,023.55. Following the sale, the insider owned 666,404 shares in the company, valued at $52,545,955.40. This represents a 4.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,956,527 shares of company stock worth $155,711,921. Insiders own 10.85% of the company's stock.

Circle Internet Group Stock Performance

NYSE:CRCL opened at $62.48 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.53 billion and a PE ratio of -19.52. Circle Internet Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.90 and a 52-week high of $197.90.

Circle Internet Group (NYSE:CRCL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.06). Circle Internet Group had a negative net margin of 2.76% and a positive return on equity of 2.89%. The business had revenue of $694.13 million for the quarter. The company's revenue was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Circle Internet Group, Inc. will post 0.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Compass Point set a $62.00 price target on shares of Circle Internet Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Circle Internet Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 11th. Freedom Capital upgraded Circle Internet Group to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Circle Internet Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Circle Internet Group from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $113.25.

Circle Internet Group Profile

Circle Internet Group NYSE: CRCL is a financial technology company that builds infrastructure to enable businesses and developers to use and move money on public blockchains. Co-founded by Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville, the company is best known as a principal issuer and steward of USDC, a dollar-pegged stablecoin developed through the CENTRE Consortium, which Circle co-founded with Coinbase. Jeremy Allaire serves as CEO and has been a visible leader in the company’s strategy and public engagement around digital currency and payments innovation.

Circle’s core products and services center on digital currency issuance and programmable payments.

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