Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG Shares Sold by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA reduced its position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) by 10.3% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 129,198 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,756 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $11,642,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 3.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 14.8% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 921 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $805,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PFG. Evercore set a $108.00 price objective on Principal Financial Group in a report on Monday, April 27th. Barclays raised their target price on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Principal Financial Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $95.00 price target (down from $98.00) on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Principal Financial Group

In other Principal Financial Group news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 9,183 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 77,188 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,816,056.88. This trade represents a 10.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of Principal Financial Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.83, for a total transaction of $259,233.93. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 21,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,208,781.98. The trade was a 10.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 28,317 shares of company stock valued at $2,884,902 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

PFG opened at $110.87 on Friday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.00 and a 1-year high of $112.45. The stock has a market cap of $23.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.88. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $95.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.11 billion. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.25% and a net margin of 10.10%.During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.81 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.92%.

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.