Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Has $25.69 Million Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. has reduced its stake in BlackRock by 3.8%, now holding approximately $25.69 million worth of shares in the asset management company.
• In recent quarters, several large institutions have increased their investments in BlackRock, with Brighton Jones LLC growing its position by 23.1% and Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC expanding by 159.3%.
• BlackRock's recent earnings report showed a profit of $12.05 per share, exceeding expectations, along with a robust net margin of 29.68% and an annualized dividend of $20.84 per share.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 3.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 27,139 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 1,065 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in BlackRock were worth $25,686,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BLK. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 104,598.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,312,759,000 after purchasing an additional 3,496,740 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 401.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,095,241 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,122,743,000 after acquiring an additional 876,836 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in BlackRock by 2.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,764,072 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $13,027,419,000 after acquiring an additional 387,466 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in BlackRock by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,100,163 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,152,907,000 after acquiring an additional 329,244 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in BlackRock by 32.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,131,919 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,071,339,000 after acquiring an additional 279,336 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.43, for a total transaction of $13,565,933.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 251,697 shares in the company, valued at $283,267,354.71. The trade was a 4.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total value of $4,978,539.54. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,936,571.86. The trade was a 55.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BLK shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Bank of America lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,214.00 to $1,224.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,151.21.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of BlackRock stock traded down $1.13 during trading on Thursday, hitting $1,130.50. 475,174 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 748,977. The stock has a market cap of $175.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.33, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 4.04. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,171.89. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $1,095.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $995.51.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. The business had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The firm's revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $10.36 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock's payout ratio is currently 50.39%.

About BlackRock

BlackRock, Inc is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm primarily provides its services to institutional, intermediary, and individual investors including corporate, public, union, and industry pension plans, insurance companies, third-party mutual funds, endowments, public institutions, governments, foundations, charities, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, official institutions, and banks.