Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG Shares Sold by Choreo LLC

Choreo LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,599 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,264 shares during the quarter. Choreo LLC’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $1,398,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 12.9% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 8,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $683,000 after purchasing an additional 924 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 61,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,194,000 after buying an additional 5,461 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 18.8% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,378 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in Principal Financial Group by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 115,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,771,000 after acquiring an additional 9,064 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in Principal Financial Group by 10.3% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 26,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,203,000 after acquiring an additional 2,438 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler set a $94.00 target price on Principal Financial Group and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Barclays lifted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Principal Financial Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $81.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $88.90.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE:PFG opened at $84.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap of $18.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $82.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.15. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.39 and a 1-year high of $90.31.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The company reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.12. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 14.68%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.05 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 3rd. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 46.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Wee Yee Cheong sold 1,887 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.04, for a total transaction of $160,470.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 81,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,924,041.84. This represents a 2.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Company Profile

Principal Financial Group, Inc provides retirement, asset management, and insurance products and services to businesses, individuals, and institutional clients worldwide. The company operates through Retirement and Income Solutions, Principal Asset Management, and Benefits and Protection segments. The Retirement and Income Solutions segment provides retirement, and related financial products and services.