BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Sells 18,058 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. reduced its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 9.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 166,099 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 18,058 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $138,477,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Abacus Planning Group Inc. grew its position in BlackRock by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 334 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 48.1% in the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 450 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Spreng Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in BlackRock by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Spreng Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,329 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,079,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Accurate Wealth Management LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,007 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $840,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on BlackRock from $924.00 to $912.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. TD Cowen cut their price target on BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $872.29.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of BlackRock stock traded down $2.47 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $841.47. 691,973 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 602,679. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.32. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $790.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $793.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 5.32 and a quick ratio of 5.32. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $596.18 and a 1-year high of $848.62.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.96 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $9.28 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 51.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The stock was 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 approximately $309,327,694.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related 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 value 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 approximately $309,327,694.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total value of $7,155,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,151,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock 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.