Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) Price Target Cut to $92.00 by Analysts at Bank of America

Key Points

• Bank of America cut its price target for Principal Financial Group from $96.00 to $92.00 and kept a "neutral" rating, implying roughly a 2.44% downside from the prior close.
• Analyst consensus remains a Hold with an average price target of $93.44 after mixed revisions (two Buy, seven Hold, one Sell).
• Shares traded at $94.31 (up 0.8%) with a market cap of about $20.4B; the CEO recently sold 9,300 shares while institutional investors own roughly 75% of the stock.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG - Get Free Report) had its price target lowered by analysts at Bank of America from $96.00 to $92.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "neutral" rating on the stock. Bank of America's price objective suggests a potential downside of 2.44% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on PFG. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. UBS Group increased their price target on Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Principal Financial Group from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $93.44.

Principal Financial Group Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ PFG traded up $0.76 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $94.31. The company had a trading volume of 331,592 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,659,165. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Principal Financial Group has a 1-year low of $69.80 and a 1-year high of $97.88. The firm's 50 day moving average is $91.37 and its 200-day moving average is $87.97.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The company reported $2.20 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.09% and a net margin of 7.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Principal Financial Group news, CEO Deanna D. Strable-Soethout sold 9,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.12, for a total transaction of $884,616.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 144,168 shares in the company, valued at $13,713,260.16. This trade represents a 6.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 24,665 shares of company stock worth $2,324,710. 1.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFG. Norges Bank bought a new position in Principal Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth $273,276,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 112.8% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,348,233 shares of the company's stock worth $207,138,000 after purchasing an additional 1,244,668 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 9.6% during 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. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 62.3% during 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. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1,048.8% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 697,735 shares of the company's stock worth $57,849,000 after purchasing an additional 637,001 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.08% of the company's stock.

Principal Financial Group Company 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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