Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC Reduces Position in BlackRock $BLK

Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC lowered its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 4.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,500 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 70 shares during the period. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,573,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Garde Capital Inc. grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 200.0% during the second quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 76.5% in the 1st quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 100.0% in the first quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 61,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,763,964.50. This trade represents a 21.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.43, for a total transaction of $13,565,933.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 251,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $283,267,354.71. The trade was a 4.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on BLK. Argus reissued a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,280.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $980.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,222.87.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $1,179.86 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 4.04 and a quick ratio of 4.04. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $1,130.91 and its 200-day moving average is $1,030.30. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $773.74 and a 12-month high of $1,184.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $182.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.45.

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

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 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.