Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.1% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 18,838 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 406 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $14,832,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BLK. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 25.0% during the 4th quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 200 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $163,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 237,740 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $192,997,000 after purchasing an additional 1,647 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 35.8% during the 1st quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,732 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,945,000 after purchasing an additional 1,248 shares in the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 97.1% during the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 114,379 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $93,151,000 after purchasing an additional 56,357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its position in BlackRock by 3.9% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 387,202 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $322,810,000 after acquiring an additional 14,477 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,826,802.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other BlackRock news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $22,529,340.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,407,041.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 93,042 shares of company stock worth $79,387,117. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $928.79 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $868.55 and a 200 day moving average of $817.80. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $596.18 and a 12 month high of $942.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $138.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.60, 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 current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced 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. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.44% and a net margin of 32.36%. The business had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $9.28 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.34 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $1,000.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $902.13.

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.