Wealth Alliance Trims Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Wealth Alliance lessened its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 6.5% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 674 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 47 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $531,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Lam Group Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Fairman Group LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK stock opened at $923.31 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $137.20 billion, a PE ratio of 23.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.30. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $596.18 and a 12-month high of $930.50. The company has a current ratio of 5.06, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $864.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $816.48.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.96 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $4.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.44% and a net margin of 32.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $9.28 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on BLK. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $1,000.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price target on BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Barclays boosted their price target on BlackRock from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $902.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total transaction of $22,529,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,407,041.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total transaction of $22,529,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,407,041.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 5,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,826,802.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 93,042 shares of company stock worth $79,387,117. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Company 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.