Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Position in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group trimmed its stake in BlackRock by 1.3% in Q4, selling 4,679 shares to hold 358,087 shares (0.23% of the company) valued at about $383.3 million.
• Insiders have been net sellers: CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares on April 28 for roughly $35.6 million, and insiders sold 106,911 shares totaling about $114.7 million over the last quarter (insider ownership 1.92%).
• BlackRock beat estimates with quarterly EPS of $12.53 vs. $12.40 and revenue of $6.70 billion vs. $6.56 billion (revenue +27% YoY); the consensus rating is a Moderate Buy with a $1,269.06 target.

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 358,087 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 4,679 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.23% of BlackRock worth $383,276,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,062,677 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $15,051,846,000 after purchasing an additional 221,123 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.6% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,841,088 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,146,663,000 after acquiring an additional 10,591 shares in the last quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 12,176.1% in the fourth quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 1,595,153 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,707,356,000 after acquiring an additional 1,582,159 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 13.4% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,213,561 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,414,854,000 after acquiring an additional 143,126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 4.5% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 913,121 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,064,580,000 after acquiring an additional 39,412 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $1,053.10 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,007.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,059.38. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $906.57 and a 1-year high of $1,219.94. The firm has a market cap of $163.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.40 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.56 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.96% and a net margin of 24.40%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $9.64 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 52.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 33,900 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 230,516 shares in the company, valued at $242,168,583.80. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 385 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,084.91, for a total value of $417,690.35. Following the sale, the director owned 3,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,618,174.85. This represents a 10.35% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 106,911 shares of company stock valued at $114,670,698. 1.92% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. CICC Research upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,220.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Freedom Capital raised BlackRock from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,269.06.

About BlackRock

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.

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