SWS Partners Sells 78 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

SWS Partners trimmed its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,683 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 78 shares during the period. BlackRock comprises 1.1% of SWS Partners’ holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. SWS Partners’ holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,685,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the first quarter worth $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Argus increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $874.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total value of $1,289,224.48. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total value of $1,289,224.48. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $309,327,694.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 100,020 shares of company stock worth $83,094,987. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK traded up $14.94 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $872.46. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 520,693 shares, compared to its average volume of 603,126. The company has a market cap of $129.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.32. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $596.18 and a fifty-two week high of $885.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 5.32 and a current ratio of 5.32. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $816.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $801.61.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 32.36%. The company’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.28 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.84%.

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.