Busey Bank Buys New Shares in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Busey Bank bought a new position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 2,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 5.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,462,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,534,000 after acquiring an additional 118,722 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,403,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $120,577,000 after purchasing an additional 18,801 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 806,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,293,000 after purchasing an additional 88,179 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 27.2% during the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 540,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,404,000 after buying an additional 115,569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 41.0% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 503,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,367,000 after buying an additional 146,473 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PFG. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $93.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Principal Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America cut their price target on Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $91.00 price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six 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 MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.92.

Principal Financial Group Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE PFG opened at $83.51 on Friday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $72.21 and a 52 week high of $91.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.14, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a fifty day moving average of $80.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.26.

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.