First Trust Advisors LP Lowers Stock Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) by 19.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 555,487 shares of the company’s stock after selling 132,541 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.26% of Principal Financial Group worth $50,055,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Principal Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $273,276,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 112.8% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,348,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $207,138,000 after purchasing an additional 1,244,668 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,370,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $982,617,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,991 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 62.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,023,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $167,800,000 after purchasing an additional 776,997 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,376,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,970,000 after purchasing an additional 636,334 shares during the period. 75.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 7,534 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 66,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,854,259.88. The trade was a 10.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $259,233.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 21,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,208,781.98. This trade represents a 10.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 28,317 shares of company stock worth $2,884,902 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PFG opened at $109.40 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $23.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.65, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $75.00 and a one year high of $114.90. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $108.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.43.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 company posted $1.81 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Principal Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $99.00 to $111.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Principal Financial Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group increased 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Principal Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.00.

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.