Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Position in BlackRock $BLK

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 1.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 353,663 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 4,424 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.23% of BlackRock worth $340,122,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 5,190.3% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,490,422 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,876,618,000 after purchasing an additional 5,386,640 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,742,680,000. Oak Harvest Investment Services lifted its stake in BlackRock by 12,176.1% during the fourth quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 1,595,153 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,707,356,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582,159 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its stake in BlackRock by 106,934.0% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,284,408 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $128,441,000 after purchasing an additional 1,283,208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 200.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,451,122 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,553,194,000 after buying an additional 968,245 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.5%

BLK stock opened at $1,026.88 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $159.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $1,033.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,042.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 4.09 and a quick ratio of 4.09. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $917.39 and a 12 month high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.40 by $0.13. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 24.40%.The firm had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $9.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock will post 54.16 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $5.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 57.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,310.00 to $1,340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,181.00 to $1,313.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,238.00 to $1,105.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,145.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,235.00 to $1,270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,270.72.

Key Headlines Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock is expected to deliver another strong quarter, with Wall Street looking for Q2 EPS of $12.65 and revenue of $6.74 billion, both implying solid year-over-year growth and setting up a potentially favorable earnings reaction. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Investor demand for BlackRock’s cash-style ETF SGOV is surging, with assets nearing $100 billion, highlighting strong inflows into BlackRock’s ETF franchise and ongoing demand for its low-risk cash management products. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s tokenization and digital-asset initiatives are gaining traction, including BUIDL’s rapid asset growth and BlackRock’s role in a UK tokenization task force, reinforcing the company’s positioning in a fast-growing market. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: BlackRock continues to be discussed favorably in comparison pieces and ETF coverage, but these articles are more informational than stock-moving. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley lowered its price target on BlackRock to $1,383 from $1,430, but kept an overweight rating, so the signal is still positive overall despite slightly less upside. Article Title

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,050.55, for a total transaction of $35,613,645.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 230,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $242,168,583.80. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,056.60, for a total transaction of $9,233,627.40. Following the transaction, the president owned 210,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,082,527.60. The trade was a 3.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 1.92% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Profile

BlackRock, Inc is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of products and services to institutional, intermediary and individual investors. Its core activities include portfolio management across active and index strategies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) under the iShares brand, fixed income, equity and multi-asset solutions, as well as alternatives such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure. The firm also offers cash management and liquidity solutions and retirement-focused products designed for defined contribution and defined benefit investors.

In addition to traditional investment management, BlackRock is known for its technology and risk management capabilities, most prominently its Aladdin platform, which combines portfolio management, trading and risk analytics and is used both internally and licensed to external clients.