TFB Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in BlackRock $BLK

TFB Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 10.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 249 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 29 shares during the quarter. TFB Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $236,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in BlackRock by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,764,072 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $13,027,419,000 after acquiring an additional 387,466 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 3,496,740 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in BlackRock by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,100,163 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,152,907,000 after acquiring an additional 329,244 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,591,716 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,631,684,000 after acquiring an additional 272,176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 32.8% during the 1st 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 last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,129.0310 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $174.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,171.89. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $1,079.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $991.10.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The company had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $10.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on BLK. Bank of America increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,214.00 to $1,224.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded BlackRock to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,115.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,151.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total transaction of $20,301,321.60. Following the sale, the director owned 19,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,617,148. This trade represents a 48.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total value of $19,207,611.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 61,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,763,964.50. This represents a 21.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573 in the last three months. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company 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.