Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. Cuts Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. lessened its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 11.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 936 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 119 shares during the period. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $780,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its holdings in BlackRock by 208.3% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 37 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on BLK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Argus lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $910.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $872.29.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total transaction of $25,008,229.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 383,168 shares in the company, valued at $309,327,694.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total transaction of $7,155,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,151,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total transaction of $25,008,229.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 383,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $309,327,694.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE:BLK traded up $16.01 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $838.97. 414,241 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 599,570. The company has a quick ratio of 5.32, a current ratio of 5.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $596.18 and a 1 year high of $845.00. The company has a market cap of $124.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $788.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $792.92.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.96 by $0.40. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.26% and a return on equity of 15.24%. The business had revenue of $4.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.84%.

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.