Zions Bancorporation N.A. Trims Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Zions Bancorporation N.A. decreased its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 4.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 269 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 12 shares during the quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,182,262 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,990,052,000 after purchasing an additional 292,017 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in BlackRock by 11.1% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,354,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,630,127,000 after buying an additional 435,358 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 57.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,514,999 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,853,517,000 after buying an additional 1,279,952 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,471,621 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,006,490,000 after buying an additional 58,681 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,812,920,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. UBS Group cut their target price on BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on BlackRock from $920.00 to $945.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Thursday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $1,000.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $902.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total value of $1,289,224.48. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at $4,826,802.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total value of $22,529,340.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,407,041.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 93,042 shares of company stock valued at $79,387,117 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $885.73 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $131.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $857.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $814.47. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $596.18 and a one year high of $903.46.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.96 by $0.40. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.44%. The company had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $9.28 earnings per share. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.34 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.84%.

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.