Conning Inc. Has $36.81 Million Stock Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Conning Inc. decreased its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 35,078 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,358 shares during the quarter. BlackRock comprises approximately 1.3% of Conning Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Conning Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $36,806,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BLK. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,615,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth approximately $674,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,698 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,500,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional boosted its stake in BlackRock by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. CX Institutional now owns 471 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,224.00 to $1,362.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,221.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of 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. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,210.00 to $1,310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,258.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total value of $4,978,539.54. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,506 shares in the company, valued at $3,936,571.86. This trade represents a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.43, for a total transaction of $13,565,933.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 251,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $283,267,354.71. The trade was a 4.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573 over the last ninety days. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $1,132.12 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.04, a current 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 $1,184.13. The company has a market capitalization of $175.31 billion, a PE ratio of 27.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $1,134.85 and its 200-day moving average is $1,034.64.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The company 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 company earned $10.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.39%.

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.