Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 69 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 2.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,693 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 69 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,825,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BLK. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc. increased its holdings in BlackRock by 200.0% during the 2nd quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $1,132.12 on Monday. 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 market capitalization of $175.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.37, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.45. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $1,134.85 and its 200 day moving average is $1,035.56. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,184.13.

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

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total transaction of $4,978,539.54. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,936,571.86. This trade represents a 55.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.43, for a total value of $13,565,933.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 251,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $283,267,354.71. This represents a 4.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BLK shares. Argus restated a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on BlackRock in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,280.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,258.56.

BlackRock Company Profile

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.