Sachetta LLC Sells 13 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Sachetta LLC lessened its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.9% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 660 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 13 shares during the quarter. Sachetta LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $576,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Lam Group Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the first quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. 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 report on Wednesday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $883.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the business’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 directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,407,041.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 93,042 shares of company stock worth $79,387,117 in the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK opened at $877.94 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $850.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $812.37. 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 has a market capitalization of $130.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.30. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $596.18 and a 52-week high of $903.46.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.96 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $4.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.44%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $9.28 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.34 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 51.84%.

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.