Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG – Get Rating) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 9,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $649,000.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,028,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,130,953,000 after purchasing an additional 150,598 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 1.1% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,113,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,986,000 after purchasing an additional 43,319 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 6.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,054,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $297,615,000 after acquiring an additional 251,562 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.3% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,708,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,577,000 after acquiring an additional 47,675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 3.6% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,919,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $214,302,000 after acquiring an additional 102,496 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.21% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Principal Financial Group from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $81.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $88.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Credit Suisse Group downgraded shares of Principal Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $86.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, December 8th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $62.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $78.64.
Principal Financial Group Trading Up 1.6 %
Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 31st. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.16. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 27.51% and a return on equity of 15.98%. The firm had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.85 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Principal Financial Group Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 14th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.60%.
Principal Financial Group Company Profile
Principal Financial Group, Inc is a financial company, which offers financial products and services to businesses, individuals and institutional clients. It specializes in retirement solutions, insurance, and investment products through its diverse family of financial services companies and national network of financial professionals.
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