Legal & General Group Plc Has $125.96 Million Stock Holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG - Free Report) by 21.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,627,120 shares of the company's stock after selling 448,661 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.71% of Principal Financial Group worth $125,955,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Principal Financial Group by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 20,005 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,549,000 after buying an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 149,743 shares of the company's stock worth $11,589,000 after purchasing an additional 7,024 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 43,726 shares of the company's stock worth $3,385,000 after purchasing an additional 3,426 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 71.7% during the fourth quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 4,481 shares of the company's stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,871 shares during the period. Finally, Aviva PLC lifted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 139,485 shares of the company's stock worth $10,798,000 after buying an additional 17,536 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFG has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays cut their target price on Principal Financial Group from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $93.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Principal Financial Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $84.69.

Principal Financial Group Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of PFG stock traded down $0.12 on Wednesday, hitting $72.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 319,932 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,559,955. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.01. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.39 and a fifty-two week high of $91.97. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $82.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.90.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. Principal Financial Group's payout ratio is 44.91%.

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.