Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG Shares Sold by TD Asset Management Inc

TD Asset Management Inc reduced its stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 114,837 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,556 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $10,130,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 343.6% in the fourth quarter. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. now owns 346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the third quarter valued at $32,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 66.5% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 3,754.5% in the fourth quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on PFG shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective 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, April 10th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $96.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Raymond James Financial cut Principal Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $99.00 to $111.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “hold” rating and issued a $92.00 price target on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.10.

Insider Activity

In other Principal Financial Group news, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.83, for a total transaction of $259,233.93. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 21,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,208,781.98. This trade represents a 10.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 9,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total value of $929,870.58. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 77,188 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,816,056.88. The trade was a 10.63% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 28,317 shares of company stock worth $2,884,902. Corporate insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Stock Up 1.6%

Principal Financial Group stock opened at $106.66 on Wednesday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.00 and a 1-year high of $106.70. 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 cap of $23.04 billion, a PE ratio of 15.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $98.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.14.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the firm earned $1.81 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio 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.