World Investment Advisors Sells 930 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

World Investment Advisors trimmed its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 20.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,562 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 930 shares during the quarter. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in BlackRock were worth $4,153,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in BlackRock by 2.0% during the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 1,124 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,311,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC now owns 5,704 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,650,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,472 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $12,209,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 86,468 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $100,810,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Optas LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 13.0% in the third quarter. Optas LLC now owns 330 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $385,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BLK shares. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,301.00 to $1,407.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,486.00 to $1,514.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded BlackRock from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 20th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,160.00 to $1,265.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $1,255.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,316.18.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Martin Small sold 1,258 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,043.38, for a total value of $1,312,572.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 6,209 shares in the company, valued at $6,478,346.42. This trade represents a 16.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total transaction of $13,980,480.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,205 shares in the company, valued at $8,394,113.20. The trade was a 62.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,088.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 3.33 and a quick ratio of 3.33. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $773.74 and a 1-year high of $1,219.94. The business has a 50-day moving average of $1,073.87 and a 200 day moving average of $1,094.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.92 billion, a PE ratio of 28.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.47.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.78 by ($0.23). BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.80% and a net margin of 26.64%.The firm had revenue of $6.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $11.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 53.59%.

BlackRock Profile

BlackRock, Inc is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of products and services to institutional, intermediary and individual investors. Its core activities include portfolio management across active and index strategies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) under the iShares brand, fixed income, equity and multi-asset solutions, as well as alternatives such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure. The firm also offers cash management and liquidity solutions and retirement-focused products designed for defined contribution and defined benefit investors.

In addition to traditional investment management, BlackRock is known for its technology and risk management capabilities, most prominently its Aladdin platform, which combines portfolio management, trading and risk analytics and is used both internally and licensed to external clients.