Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG Shares Purchased by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) by 3.2% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,886,509 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 119,327 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $350,187,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $244,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 24.1% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 7,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $633,000 after buying an additional 1,455 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 11.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 497 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 96.2% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $181,000 after buying an additional 1,117 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 9.1% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 37,957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,015,000 after acquiring an additional 3,175 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Principal Financial Group

In other news, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 21,906 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,208,781.98. This represents a 10.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 7,534 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.16, for a total transaction of $777,207.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 66,443 shares in the company, valued at $6,854,259.88. This trade represents a 10.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 28,317 shares of company stock valued at $2,884,902 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

PFG stock opened at $109.57 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $107.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.03. The stock has a market cap of $23.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.68, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.88. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.00 and a fifty-two week high of $114.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the company posted $1.81 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $101.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Principal Financial Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $105.08.

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.