BSW Wealth Partners Lowers Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

BSW Wealth Partners lowered its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 8.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 208 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 19 shares during the quarter. BSW Wealth Partners’ holdings in BlackRock were worth $218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Securian Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter worth $7,331,000. Prudent Man Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter worth approximately $2,018,000. Allianz SE raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Allianz SE now owns 11,025 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,435,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth about $40,868,000. Finally, Community Financial Services Group LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 17.2% in the first quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 5,702 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,397,000 after purchasing an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.28, for a total value of $16,641,167.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 263,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $296,002,472.28. This trade represents a 5.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total value of $19,207,611.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 61,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,763,964.50. This trade represents a 21.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Zacks Research cut shares of BlackRock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $1,115.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,194.86.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK opened at $1,160.23 on Friday. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $773.74 and a 52-week high of $1,183.50. The company has a market cap of $179.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a 50 day moving average of $1,128.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1,026.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. The company had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $10.36 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.39%.

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.