Elk River Wealth Management LLC Sells 21 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Elk River Wealth Management LLC lessened its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 0.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,247 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 21 shares during the period. Elk River Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $4,456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,764,072 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $13,027,419,000 after purchasing an additional 387,466 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 104,598.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,312,759,000 after buying an additional 3,496,740 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 73.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,313,350 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,243,059,000 after acquiring an additional 555,098 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 10.2% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,206,935 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,142,340,000 after acquiring an additional 111,694 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in BlackRock by 32.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,131,919 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,071,339,000 after purchasing an additional 279,336 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on BLK. Zacks Research cut shares of BlackRock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Barclays increased their price target on BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Twelve 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,154.07.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,136.98 on Friday. 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 $176.06 billion, a PE ratio of 27.49, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $1,119.02 and a 200-day moving average of $1,011.55.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. The business had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $10.36 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the company’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 sale, the director owned 61,369 shares in the company, valued at $68,763,964.50. This represents a 21.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total transaction of $4,978,539.54. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,936,571.86. This trade represents a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

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.