State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Has $5.23 Million Stock Holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D trimmed its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 9.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 63,116 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,894 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $5,233,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PFG. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,345,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,172,018,000 after acquiring an additional 97,149 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,370,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $982,617,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,991 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the second quarter worth $227,098,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Principal Financial Group by 5.4% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,740,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,675,000 after purchasing an additional 139,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in Principal Financial Group by 57.6% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 1,791,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,213,000 after purchasing an additional 654,408 shares in the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Deanna D. Strable-Soethout sold 9,300 shares of Principal Financial Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.12, for a total transaction of $884,616.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 144,168 shares in the company, valued at $13,713,260.16. This trade represents a 6.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 24,965 shares of company stock worth $2,352,460 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Principal Financial Group from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America raised their target price on Principal Financial Group from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $93.00 price target on Principal Financial Group in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $93.22.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE PFG opened at $92.45 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.59 billion, a PE ratio of 13.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $91.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.39 and a 12 month high of $97.88.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The company reported $2.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by ($0.03). Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 9.74%.During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.94 earnings per share. Principal Financial Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.010-9.260 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 11th. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 60.72%.

Principal Financial Group Company Profile

Principal Financial Group, commonly known as Principal, is a global financial services company headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa. The firm provides a broad range of retirement, investment management and insurance solutions for individual, employer and institutional clients. Its core businesses include retirement plan services and recordkeeping, asset management, and life and disability insurance, supported by distribution through employers, financial advisors and direct channels.

On the retirement side, Principal offers 401(k) and other workplace retirement plans, individual retirement accounts and annuity products designed to help clients accumulate and manage retirement savings.