IMS Capital Management Reduces Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

IMS Capital Management lessened its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,421 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 197 shares during the quarter. IMS Capital Management’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,224,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 57.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,514,999 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,853,517,000 after acquiring an additional 1,279,952 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in BlackRock by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,918,878 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,181,346,000 after acquiring an additional 749,654 shares during the last quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 24,171.5% in the 1st quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 416,014 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $346,831,000 after purchasing an additional 414,300 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,182,262 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,990,052,000 after purchasing an additional 292,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its position in BlackRock by 1,829.7% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 297,985 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $241,904,000 after buying an additional 282,543 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. 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 note on Monday, July 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Argus upped their price objective on BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $902.13.

Insider Activity

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 related news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the company’s 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 owns 5,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $5,407,041.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 93,042 shares of company stock valued at $79,387,117 in the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE BLK opened at $949.50 on Tuesday. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $596.18 and a one year high of $952.75. The firm has a market cap of $141.10 billion, a PE ratio of 24.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $881.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $822.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 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 in the prior year, the business earned $9.28 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.37 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.84%.

BlackRock 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.