Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. Lowers Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. reduced its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 8.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,078 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 181 shares during the quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,430,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Empower Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at about $308,000. Old North State Trust LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 5,876.2% in the first quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 10,040 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 9,872 shares during the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 3.8% during the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 2,496 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,670,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 19.6% during the 1st quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 1,019 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $682,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Finally, Resources Investment Advisors LLC. increased its stake in BlackRock by 12.5% in the 1st quarter. Resources Investment Advisors LLC. now owns 1,696 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,135,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 2,079 shares of the business’s 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,520,331.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 20,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 26th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $344,399,315. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BLK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $780.00 to $785.00 in a report on Monday, July 17th. Citigroup raised their price target on BlackRock from $750.00 to $815.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on BlackRock from $780.00 to $770.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $780.00 to $820.00 in a research note on Monday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $881.00 to $888.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $767.69.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded down $6.54 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $688.35. The company had a trading volume of 113,785 shares, compared to its average volume of 637,561. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $503.12 and a 12-month high of $785.65. The company has a fifty day moving average of $706.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $681.26. The company has a market cap of $102.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.29, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 4.21 and a quick ratio of 4.21.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.47 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.90% and a return on equity of 14.29%. The company’s revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.36 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 35.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $20.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 7th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 58.41%.

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.