Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $14.53 Million Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans decreased its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 21.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,451 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 4,898 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in BlackRock were worth $14,526,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 200 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $163,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.7% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 35.8% during the first 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 during the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 97.1% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 3.9% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 387,202 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $322,810,000 after purchasing an additional 14,477 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total value of $24,833,712.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $298,272,703.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of BlackRock 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,407,041.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total transaction of $24,833,712.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,272,703.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 93,042 shares of company stock worth $79,387,117. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on BLK shares. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $945.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $1,000.00 price objective on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $902.13.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $941.23 on Wednesday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $596.18 and a 12 month high of $942.73. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $872.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $819.29. The firm has a market cap of $139.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.92, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.30.

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

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. BlackRock’s payout ratio 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.