Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Sells 1,065 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. trimmed its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 3.8% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 27,139 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,065 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $25,686,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of BLK. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 76.5% during the 1st quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the first quarter valued at about $30,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the first quarter worth about $34,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BLK. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Argus restated a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $980.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,151.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $283,267,354.71. The trade was a 4.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $3,936,571.86. This trade represents a 55.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573. Insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,147.8720 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $1,086.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $992.51. The company has a market cap of $177.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.75, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.42. 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 has a one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,171.89.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $10.36 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.39%.

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.