Heard Capital LLC Has $74.36 Million Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Heard Capital LLC lessened its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 13.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 107,591 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 16,489 shares during the period. BlackRock accounts for about 5.7% of Heard Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Heard Capital LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $74,360,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its position in BlackRock by 26.3% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 90,445 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $50,744,000 after acquiring an additional 18,862 shares in the last quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.9% during the second quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 104,529 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $72,619,000 after buying an additional 2,920 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.7% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 33,770 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $23,340,000 after buying an additional 567 shares during the period. Finally, Payden & Rygel acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter worth about $13,975,000. Institutional investors own 77.01% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK traded up $2.51 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $719.37. 297,508 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 635,888. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $596.18 and a twelve month high of $781.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $651.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $676.33. The company has a quick ratio of 3.72, a current ratio of 3.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 13th. The asset manager reported $10.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.34 by $2.57. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.52 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 30.66%. The business’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $9.55 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 36.44 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 7th will be issued a dividend of $5.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 6th. This represents a $20.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 56.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 15,385 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $652.03, for a total transaction of $10,031,481.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 435,260 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $283,802,577.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $781.00 to $754.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 10th. StockNews.com started coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on BlackRock from $820.00 to $720.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on BlackRock from $836.00 to $897.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on BlackRock from $814.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $764.75.

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.