Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Cuts Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise cut its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 65.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 207 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 395 shares during the quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $197,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 81.5% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 49 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the second quarter worth about $53,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total value of $10,800,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,832,000. This trade represents a 64.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK opened at $1,036.46 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $984.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $879.49. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $724.54 and a 12-month high of $1,068.34. The firm has a market cap of $160.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.58, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 5.06, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. The business had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $10.91 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.17 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BLK shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,019.62.

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.