BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC lowered its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 6.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,082 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,793 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $22,578,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BLK. Abacus Planning Group Inc. grew its position in BlackRock by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 334 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Spreng Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Spreng Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,329 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,079,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Magellan Asset Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 404 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $328,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK opened at $841.47 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $790.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $793.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 5.32 and a current ratio of 5.32. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $596.18 and a 52 week high of $848.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.04 billion, a PE ratio of 21.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.32.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.96 by $0.40. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The company had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $9.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.12 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 2.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.84%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total value of $7,155,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,151,600. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total value of $7,155,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,151,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 383,168 shares in the company, valued at $309,327,694.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on BLK shares. Argus lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. UBS Group cut their target price 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of BlackRock from $924.00 to $912.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $872.29.

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.