Wealth Alliance LLC Acquires Shares of 5,541 Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Wealth Alliance LLC bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $499,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.6% in the first quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 6,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $624,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 14.8% in the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. Beacon Financial Group lifted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 4,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $401,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $805,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price target (down from $98.00) on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. 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 note on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price 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, July 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Three equities 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Principal Financial Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $105.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,208,781.98. This represents a 10.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 9,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider owned 77,188 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,816,056.88. The trade was a 10.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 28,317 shares of company stock valued at $2,884,902. Insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Principal Financial Group stock opened at $109.40 on Monday. 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 52 week low of $75.00 and a 52 week high of $114.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $108.14 and a 200-day moving average of $98.43.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.06. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.25% and a net margin of 10.10%.The business had revenue of $3.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.81 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.