Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 358,736 Shares of Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAT - Free Report) by 31.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 787,022 shares of the company's stock after selling 358,736 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.23% of Mattel worth $14,993,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MAT. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Mattel by 20,152.4% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,995,234 shares of the company's stock valued at $178,783,000 after buying an additional 10,940,943 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Mattel in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,559,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Mattel by 34.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,794,138 shares of the company's stock worth $94,215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,479,227 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Mattel by 92.5% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,456,754 shares of the company's stock worth $39,947,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180,301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Mattel by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 19,231,375 shares of the company's stock worth $380,974,000 after purchasing an additional 845,368 shares during the last quarter. 97.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Mattel from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Mattel from $18.25 to $20.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Mattel from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Mattel from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $27.00 price target on shares of Mattel in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mattel presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $23.75.

Mattel Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MAT traded down $0.32 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $18.67. 2,687,507 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,137,047. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $19.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.39. The company has a market cap of $6.29 billion, a PE ratio of 11.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 2.45. Mattel, Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.87 and a 1-year high of $20.59.

Mattel (NASDAQ:MAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.19. Mattel had a return on equity of 25.39% and a net margin of 10.24%. The company had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Mattel, Inc. will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Mattel Profile

Mattel, Inc, a toy and family entertainment company, designs, manufactures, and markets toys and consumer products in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through North America, International, and American Girl segments. It offers dolls and accessories, as well as books, content, gaming, and lifestyle products for children under the Barbie, American Girl, Disney Princess and Disney Frozen, Monster High, and Polly Pocket brands; die-cast vehicles, tracks, playsets, and accessories for kids, adults, and collectors under the Hot Wheels, Hot Wheels Monster Trucks, Hot Wheels Mario Kart, Matchbox, and Cars brand names; and infant, toddler, and preschool products comprising content, toys, live events, and other consumer products under the Fisher-Price, Little People and Imaginext, and Thomas & Friends, and Power wheels brands.