Mission Wealth Management LP Reduces Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Mission Wealth Management LP decreased its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.3% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,840 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 134 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $9,313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,615,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. TigerOak Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $1,815,000. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $527,000. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in BlackRock by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 5,547 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,687,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in BlackRock by 65.1% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,480 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,496,000 after buying an additional 978 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total value of $9,125,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at $60,256,025. This represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK opened at $971.24 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a current ratio of 5.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $937.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $971.37. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $766.05 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $9.81 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised BlackRock to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,082.46.

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.