Clearbridge Investments LLC Cuts Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Clearbridge Investments LLC reduced its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 63,434 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 632 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $49,943,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Lam Group Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock in the first quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 value of $22,529,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,407,041.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director now owns 5,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total value of $22,529,340.00. Following 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 insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on BLK. Argus boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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. Barclays upped 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. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $920.00 to $945.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $925.07.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of BLK stock opened at $951.49 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $596.18 and a fifty-two week high of $958.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $888.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $825.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.18, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.30.

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 net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.44%. The company had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. BlackRock’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $9.28 EPS. Research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.