Estate Counselors LLC Purchases Shares of 22,708 Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Estate Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 22,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,046,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,370,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $982,617,000 after buying an additional 1,083,991 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 3.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,886,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,187,000 after acquiring an additional 119,327 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Principal Financial Group by 23.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,376,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $279,970,000 after acquiring an additional 636,334 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $273,276,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,079,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,674,000 after purchasing an additional 55,669 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:PFG opened at $111.29 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $108.31 and its 200 day moving average is $98.57. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.00 and a 12-month high of $114.90. The stock has a market cap of $24.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.92, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.88. 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 (NASDAQ:PFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by $0.17. 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 company posted $2.16 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be issued a $0.84 dividend. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on PFG shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Principal Financial Group from a “sell” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $114.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Evercore set a $108.00 target price on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Principal Financial Group

In related news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 9,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold 25,746 shares of company stock worth $2,625,668 over the last 90 days. 1.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.