Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 981,505 Shares of Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:RYAN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:RYAN - Free Report) by 115.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,833,209 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 981,505 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.70% of Ryan Specialty worth $117,619,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new position in Ryan Specialty during the third quarter worth $25,000. Assetmark Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ryan Specialty during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Principal Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Ryan Specialty by 164.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Ryan Specialty by 109.3% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 808 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 422 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Ryan Specialty by 12.3% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the company's stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. 84.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Nicholas Dominic Cortezi sold 35,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.71, for a total transaction of $2,334,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 60,200 shares in the company, valued at $4,015,942. This represents a 36.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 316,451 shares of company stock valued at $20,907,793. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RYAN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Ryan Specialty in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $90.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Ryan Specialty from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Ryan Specialty from $77.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Ryan Specialty from $76.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Ryan Specialty from $64.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $74.55.

Ryan Specialty Price Performance

RYAN stock traded down $3.05 during trading on Friday, hitting $65.55. 2,425,852 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 990,822. The stock has a market cap of $17.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.72. Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $45.72 and a one year high of $75.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.26.

Ryan Specialty (NYSE:RYAN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $663.53 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $658.80 million. Ryan Specialty had a net margin of 10.31% and a return on equity of 47.90%. Equities analysts expect that Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. will post 1.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ryan Specialty Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be given a $0.12 dividend. This is an increase from Ryan Specialty's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. Ryan Specialty's payout ratio is presently 57.14%.

About Ryan Specialty

Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc operates as a service provider of specialty products and solutions for insurance brokers, agents, and carriers in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Singapore. It offers distribution, underwriting, product development, administration, and risk management services by acting as a wholesale broker and a managing underwriter.