Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG - Get Free Report) insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 1,080 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.00, for a total transaction of $109,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 91,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,201,908. This represents a 1.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.
Principal Financial Group Stock Up 1.3%
Principal Financial Group stock opened at $100.91 on Friday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.57 and a twelve month high of $101.54. The company's 50-day moving average price is $92.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $89.20. The stock has a market cap of $21.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.
Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.06. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 10.10% and a return on equity of 16.25%. The company had revenue of $3.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.11 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.81 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.31 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. Principal Financial Group's payout ratio is 45.78%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several brokerages have recently commented on PFG. Evercore set a $108.00 target price on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Monday. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $96.00 to $92.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $95.33.
Read Our Latest Analysis on PFG
Institutional Trading of Principal Financial Group
Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. boosted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 343.6% during the 4th quarter. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. now owns 346 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company's stock.
About Principal Financial Group
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Get Free Report)
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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