Aviance Capital Partners LLC Cuts Stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC decreased its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 8.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,219 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 715 shares during the quarter. BlackRock comprises about 1.1% of Aviance Capital Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Aviance Capital Partners LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $7,779,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 104,598.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,312,759,000 after acquiring an additional 3,496,740 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $2,356,357,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 401.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,095,241 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,122,743,000 after purchasing an additional 876,836 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 138,682.5% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $634,000 after purchasing an additional 633,779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $572,730,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total value of $9,125,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 66,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at $60,256,025. This represents a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BlackRock stock traded up $5.71 during trading on Friday, reaching $1,076.28. The company had a trading volume of 342,684 shares, compared to its average volume of 696,095. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $979.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $969.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 4.34, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 30.09%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $9.81 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th were issued a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is 50.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BLK shares. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,180.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays increased their price target on BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,111.00 to $1,164.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,110.92.

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.