Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) Shares Sold by Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG - Free Report) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 136,540 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,291 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC owned about 0.06% of Principal Financial Group worth $10,570,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,448,000. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 6,693 shares of the company's stock valued at $518,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 143.3% in the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 105,964 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,203,000 after acquiring an additional 62,404 shares during the last quarter. Twinbeech Capital LP acquired a new position in Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,613,000. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in Principal Financial Group by 318.6% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 85,400 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,611,000 after purchasing an additional 65,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.08% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PFG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $93.00 to $80.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Principal Financial Group from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Principal Financial Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $83.85.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE PFG traded up $1.38 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $78.39. 187,288 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,516,803. The company has a market cap of $17.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.01. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.39 and a 12-month high of $91.97. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $77.55 and a 200 day moving average of $80.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.02). Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 9.74%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.88%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. Principal Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.10%.

About Principal Financial Group

Principal Financial Group, Inc provides retirement, asset management, and insurance products and services to businesses, individuals, and institutional clients worldwide. The company operates through Retirement and Income Solutions, Principal Asset Management, and Benefits and Protection segments. The Retirement and Income Solutions segment provides retirement, and related financial products and services.