Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG Shares Purchased by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 812,064 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,356 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned approximately 0.37% of Principal Financial Group worth $71,720,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Principal Financial Group by 9.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,083,991 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 636,334 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $273,276,000. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,079,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,674,000 after purchasing an additional 55,669 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,498,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,416,000 after purchasing an additional 135,631 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 9,183 shares of Principal Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total value of $929,870.58. Following the transaction, the insider owned 77,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,816,056.88. The trade was a 10.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.83, for a total transaction of $259,233.93. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 21,906 shares in the company, valued at $2,208,781.98. The trade was a 10.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 28,317 shares of company stock valued at $2,884,902. Insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on PFG shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “hold” rating and set a $92.00 price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Principal Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $99.00 to $111.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $96.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $95.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Principal Financial Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.10.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of Principal Financial Group stock opened at $111.23 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $24.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $102.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.79. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.00 and a fifty-two week high of $112.23.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last announced its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $3.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter last year, the business posted $1.81 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is 46.92%.

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.