BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Argent Trust Co

Argent Trust Co trimmed its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.9% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,912 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 103 shares during the quarter. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $9,379,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Lam Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter worth $33,000. Fairman Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter worth $38,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on BLK shares. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $1,000.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $945.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $902.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total value of $22,529,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,407,041.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total value of $22,529,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,407,041.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total transaction of $24,833,712.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,272,703.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 93,042 shares of company stock valued at $79,387,117. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Stock Up 1.1 %

BLK stock opened at $904.83 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $596.18 and a 1-year high of $908.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $862.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $815.73. The firm has a market cap of $134.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.99, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.30.

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 15.44%. The company had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $9.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.34 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.