Wright Investors Service Inc. Has $2 Million Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Wright Investors Service Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 28.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,102 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 844 shares during the quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,996,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings 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. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its holdings 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 worth $322,810,000 after acquiring an additional 14,477 shares during the period. Oak Harvest Investment Services acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth $6,735,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in BlackRock by 219.5% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 44,065 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $36,737,000 after purchasing an additional 30,274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at about $161,918,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BLK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. UBS Group cut their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on BlackRock from $774.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $932.71.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK traded down $2.30 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $949.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 491,906 shares, compared to its average volume of 575,968. The company’s 50-day moving average is $890.01 and its 200-day moving average is $826.67. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $596.18 and a 52 week high of $960.74. The firm has a market cap of $141.05 billion, a PE ratio of 24.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.30. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.96 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $4.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.44%. The company’s revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $9.28 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.37 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total value of $1,289,224.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,718 shares in the company, valued at $298,272,703.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 93,042 shares of company stock valued at $79,387,117. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.