Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC Lowers Stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lowered its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) by 11.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,816 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,749 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $3,336,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellspring Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at $276,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 108,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,589,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 58.9% during the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 11,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,004,000 after purchasing an additional 4,222 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,154,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,848,000 after purchasing an additional 100,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 1,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $173,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PFG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered Principal Financial Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $96.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $92.00 price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $95.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.10.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of PFG opened at $109.21 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $99.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.33. The company has a market capitalization of $23.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 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 fifty-two week low of $75.00 and a fifty-two week high of $109.89.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3.53 billion for 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 last year, the firm earned $1.81 EPS. Research analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is 46.92%.

Insider Activity

In other Principal Financial Group news, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.83, for a total transaction of $259,233.93. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 21,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,208,781.98. This trade represents a 10.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 7,534 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.16, for a total value of $777,207.44. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 66,443 shares in the company, valued at $6,854,259.88. This represents a 10.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 28,317 shares of company stock worth $2,884,902 over the last ninety days. 1.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.