BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 12.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,713 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 4,980 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $23,300,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Steward Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 71.4% during the 4th quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 48 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Centerpoint Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 48.6% during the 1st quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 52 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock during the first quarter worth $38,000. 77.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE:BLK traded down $9.40 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $697.41. 2,816,120 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 641,401. The company has a market capitalization of $104.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 4.21, a quick ratio of 4.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $503.12 and a one year high of $785.65. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $706.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $681.26.

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

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $5.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 7th. This represents a $20.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $741.00 to $781.00 in a report on Monday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $770.00 to $835.00 in a research note on Monday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on BlackRock from $780.00 to $770.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $750.00 to $815.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on BlackRock from $881.00 to $888.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $767.69.

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.