Avior Wealth Management LLC Sells 430 Shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Avior Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 11.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,230 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 430 shares during the quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,057,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 368 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $377,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 127 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $130,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 534 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $542,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 257 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, Convergence Financial LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Convergence Financial LLC now owns 783 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $802,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BLK. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. TD Cowen cut their target price 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. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,035.00 to $1,105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,096.31.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the director now owns 66,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $60,256,025. This trade represents a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of BLK stock opened at $974.60 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $948.55 and a 200-day moving average of $970.38. The company has a quick ratio of 4.34, a current ratio of 4.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $773.74 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22. The company has a market capitalization of $150.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.41.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a net margin of 30.09% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The company had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $9.81 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.63%.

BlackRock Company 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.

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