BNP Paribas Financial Markets Decreases Stock Holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

BNP Paribas Financial Markets decreased its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) by 28.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 577,889 shares of the company’s stock after selling 226,252 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $50,976,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 343.6% in the 4th quarter. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. now owns 346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 66.5% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 3,754.5% in the 4th quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Principal Financial Group news, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of Principal Financial Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.83, for a total transaction of $259,233.93. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 21,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,208,781.98. This trade represents a 10.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 7,534 shares of Principal Financial Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.16, for a total transaction of $777,207.44. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 66,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,854,259.88. This trade represents a 10.18% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 28,317 shares of company stock valued at $2,884,902 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PFG shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Evercore set a $108.00 price target on Principal Financial Group in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Raymond James Financial downgraded Principal Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $99.00 to $111.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “hold” rating and set a $92.00 price target on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.10.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 0.4%

PFG opened at $103.31 on Wednesday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.00 and a 12-month high of $105.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.32 billion, a PE ratio of 14.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.88. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $96.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.27.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.11 billion. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.25% and a net margin of 10.10%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.81 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.92%.

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.