Insider Selling: Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) Insider Sells $929,870.58 in Stock

Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 9,183 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total value of $929,870.58. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 77,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,816,056.88. The trade was a 10.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Wee Yee Cheong also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, April 30th, Wee Yee Cheong sold 4,737 shares of Principal Financial Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.01, for a total value of $478,484.37.
• On Wednesday, April 29th, Wee Yee Cheong sold 1,080 shares of Principal Financial Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.00, for a total value of $109,080.00.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 0.7%

NASDAQ PFG opened at $101.55 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.53, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $92.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $89.63. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.00 and a 12 month high of $103.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.06. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.25% and a net margin of 10.10%.The business had revenue of $3.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.81 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is 45.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore set a $108.00 target price on Principal Financial Group in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $96.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Weiss Ratings lowered Principal Financial Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Principal Financial Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFG. DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in Principal Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in Principal Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Principal Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new position in Principal Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, MBM Wealth Consultants LLC purchased a new position in Principal Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

About Principal Financial Group

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.