BlackRock $BLK Shares Sold by Palumbo Wealth Management LLC

Palumbo Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 6.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 421 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 30 shares during the quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $442,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Securian Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at $7,331,000. Prudent Man Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth $2,018,000. Allianz SE boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 2.6% in the first quarter. Allianz SE now owns 11,025 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,435,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the first quarter worth about $40,868,000. Finally, Community Financial Services Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 5,702 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,397,000 after purchasing an additional 836 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $1,129.10 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $1,122.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,016.47. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $773.74 and a 52-week high of $1,171.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.30, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.45.

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

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were issued 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 was Friday, September 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 50.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, 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. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,154.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director directly owned 19,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,936,571.86. This represents a 55.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.