Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 8.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 445,212 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 40,439 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.30% of BlackRock worth $422,734,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the second quarter worth $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% in the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth $38,000. Finally, City Holding Co. bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $55,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $875.03, for a total value of $10,500,360.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,670,194.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 35,061 shares of company stock worth $30,734,840 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,004.54.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK traded up $6.24 during trading on Thursday, reaching $1,036.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 527,063 shares, compared to its average volume of 573,747. The firm has a market cap of $153.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $947.54 and a 200-day moving average of $857.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $648.43 and a 12 month high of $1,057.51.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $10.91 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 42.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Company Profile

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.