Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Holdings in PC Connection, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNXN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in PC Connection, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNXN) by 2.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,537 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,695 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.25% of PC Connection worth $4,091,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PC Connection by 26,952.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 135,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,443,000 after purchasing an additional 134,764 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of PC Connection by 131.3% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 41,687 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,887,000 after buying an additional 23,667 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in shares of PC Connection by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 115,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,974,000 after buying an additional 23,497 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of PC Connection by 54.2% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 58,431 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,099,000 after purchasing an additional 20,534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of PC Connection by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 268,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,596,000 after purchasing an additional 20,383 shares in the last quarter. 42.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jack L. Ferguson sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.32, for a total value of $66,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 66,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,380,767.60. This represents a 1.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy J. Mcgrath sold 26,565 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total transaction of $1,774,542.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 265,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,757,243.60. This represents a 9.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,005 shares of company stock worth $2,205,614 in the last quarter. 55.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

PC Connection Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ CNXN opened at $65.73 on Friday. PC Connection, Inc. has a 52-week low of $56.82 and a 52-week high of $77.19. The business’s 50 day moving average is $66.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.63. The firm has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.92, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.69.

PC Connection (NASDAQ:CNXN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.18. PC Connection had a net margin of 3.04% and a return on equity of 9.95%. The business had revenue of $701.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $646.37 million. Analysts anticipate that PC Connection, Inc. will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PC Connection Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. PC Connection’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wall Street Zen lowered PC Connection from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th.

About PC Connection

PC Connection, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides a range of information technology (IT) solutions. The company operates through three segments: Business Solutions, Enterprise Solutions, and Public Sector Solutions. It offers IT products, such as computer systems, software and peripheral equipment, networking communications, and other products and accessories.