Rhumbline Advisers Sells 25,776 Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Rhumbline Advisers lessened its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG - Free Report) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 438,647 shares of the company's stock after selling 25,776 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.19% of Principal Financial Group worth $33,956,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 5,223 shares of the company's stock valued at $404,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Principal Financial Group by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,693 shares of the company's stock valued at $208,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Principal Financial Group by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,358 shares of the company's stock worth $546,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in Principal Financial Group by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 7,875 shares of the company's stock worth $676,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Palisade Asset Management LLC increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 2.1% in the third quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC now owns 6,946 shares of the company's stock worth $597,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PFG. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (down from $86.00) on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Principal Financial Group from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Principal Financial Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and cut their target price for the company from $95.00 to $92.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $85.92.

Principal Financial Group Stock Down 2.5 %

PFG traded down $2.18 on Friday, reaching $84.38. 1,861,796 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,518,853. The company has a market cap of $19.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.63, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.26 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $80.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.34. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $72.21 and a 52-week high of $91.97.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. Principal Financial Group's payout ratio is 43.71%.

Principal Financial Group Company 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.