GLOBALT Investments LLC GA Lowers Position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

GLOBALT Investments LLC GA trimmed its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 7.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,037 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 84 shares during the period. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in BlackRock by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,097,524 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,200,450,000 after purchasing an additional 93,844 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 104,598.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,312,759,000 after buying an additional 3,496,740 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,006,765 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,072,787,000 after buying an additional 190,188 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,390,450 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,450,475,000 after acquiring an additional 26,485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in BlackRock by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,100,163 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,152,907,000 after acquiring an additional 329,244 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total value of $20,301,321.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 19,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,617,148. This trade represents a 48.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 55.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,352 shares of company stock worth $55,486,962 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,151.21.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,123.48 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.34, a current ratio of 4.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,130.66. The company has a market cap of $174.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.41. The company’s 50 day moving average is $1,027.64 and its 200 day moving average is $976.73.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.83% and a net margin of 29.68%. The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.40 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $10.36 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 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.