North Dakota State Investment Board Buys Shares of 7,634 Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

North Dakota State Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 7,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $673,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $805,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 22.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 13,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Evercore set a $108.00 price target on Principal Financial Group in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Principal Financial Group from $96.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $95.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Three equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 9,183 shares of Principal Financial Group stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total transaction of $929,870.58. Following the transaction, the insider 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of Principal Financial Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.83, for a total value of $259,233.93. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 21,906 shares in the company, valued at $2,208,781.98. This represents a 10.50% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 17,572 shares of company stock worth $1,776,769 in the last quarter. 1.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of PFG stock opened at $103.92 on Friday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.00 and a 1-year high of $104.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $22.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.23.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last issued 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. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.25% and a net margin of 10.10%.The business had revenue of $3.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.81 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.78%.

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.