BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Granite Investment Partners LLC

Granite Investment Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 16,127 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 17 shares during the period. Granite Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $12,697,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Lam Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Fairman Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of BLK opened at $934.61 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $138.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $866.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $817.30. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $596.18 and a twelve month high of $942.73.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $9.28 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.34 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group lowered their price target on BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Citigroup upped their target price on BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $1,000.00 target price on the stock. Argus upped their target price on BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on BlackRock from $920.00 to $945.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Three investment 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 company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $902.13.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

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