BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Karani Asset Management LLC

Karani Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 24.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 349 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 110 shares during the quarter. Karani Asset Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marcum Wealth LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 19.6% during the first quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 1,019 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $682,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Resources Investment Advisors LLC. increased its stake in BlackRock by 12.5% during the first quarter. Resources Investment Advisors LLC. now owns 1,696 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,135,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Capital Group grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 7.9% in the first quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 7,082 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,739,000 after buying an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Shelton Capital Management grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 11.6% in the first quarter. Shelton Capital Management now owns 1,013 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $678,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 867.5% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 8,224 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,503,000 after buying an additional 7,374 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on BlackRock from $780.00 to $770.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on BlackRock from $881.00 to $888.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 18th. Citigroup lifted their target price on BlackRock from $750.00 to $815.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $770.00 to $835.00 in a report on Monday, July 10th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $767.69.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK traded up $3.10 on Monday, hitting $693.72. 110,880 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 627,424. The company has a 50 day moving average of $705.57 and a 200-day moving average of $680.79. The company has a quick ratio of 4.21, a current ratio of 4.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.57 billion, a PE ratio of 20.17, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.29. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $503.12 and a 12-month high of $785.65.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 14th. The asset manager reported $9.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.52 by $0.76. The firm had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.47 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.29% and a net margin of 29.90%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $7.36 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 35.48 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $5.00 per share. This represents a $20.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.41%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 2,079 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $733.82, for a total transaction of $1,525,611.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,520,331.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 20,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $742.04, for a total value of $14,989,208.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 464,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $344,399,315. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 2,079 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $733.82, for a total value of $1,525,611.78. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,160 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,520,331.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

About BlackRock

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.