Cullen Investment Group LTD. Decreases Stake in BlackRock $BLK

Cullen Investment Group LTD. decreased its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,803 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 115 shares during the period. Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,991,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth approximately $5,334,000. Swedbank AB increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 85,878 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $81,282,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 40,590 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,417,000 after purchasing an additional 822 shares during the last quarter. eCIO Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth approximately $234,000. Finally, Modern Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 794 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $752,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total value of $19,207,611.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 61,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,763,964.50. This trade represents a 21.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.28, for a total transaction of $16,641,167.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 263,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $296,002,472.28. The trade was a 5.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573 in the last quarter. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,124.34 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $1,115.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1,007.01. 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. The company has a market cap of $174.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.18, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.45.

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

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,115.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,154.07.

BlackRock 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.