Principle Wealth Partners LLC Has $5.86 Million Stock Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Principle Wealth Partners LLC lessened its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,585 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 144 shares during the quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $5,860,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BLK. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 73.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,313,350 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,243,059,000 after acquiring an additional 555,098 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,764,072 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $13,027,419,000 after acquiring an additional 387,466 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 32.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,131,919 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,071,339,000 after acquiring an additional 279,336 shares during the period. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter valued at $231,000. Finally, Unisphere Establishment lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 29.2% during the first quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 839,500 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $794,570,000 after acquiring an additional 189,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,127.42 on Thursday. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $773.74 and a 1 year high of $1,219.94. The business has a 50-day moving average of $1,140.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1,047.41. The company has a market capitalization of $174.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 4.04 and a quick ratio of 4.04.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $11.78 by ($0.23). BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.36% and a net margin of 26.64%.The business had revenue of $6.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $11.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,310.00 to $1,360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Bank of America increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,394.00 to $1,456.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,163.00 to $1,312.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,299.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total transaction of $19,207,611.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 61,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,763,964.50. This trade represents a 21.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total value of $20,301,321.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 19,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,617,148. The trade was a 48.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 59,232 shares of company stock worth $67,055,346. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.