LPL Financial LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 106,747 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,478 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $8,263,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Amundi increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 24.1% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,359,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,511,000 after purchasing an additional 264,383 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 398.4% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 291,379 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,555,000 after acquiring an additional 232,915 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Principal Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth $15,821,000. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 2,064.3% in the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 148,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,480,000 after acquiring an additional 141,447 shares during the period. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 665,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,509,000 after purchasing an additional 125,198 shares in the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays boosted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Principal Financial Group from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 price target on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.57.

Principal Financial Group Stock Down 8.0 %

PFG stock opened at $72.94 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.92, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.29. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $72.21 and a one year high of $91.98. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $84.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.67.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.11%. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.91%.

Principal Financial Group 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.