B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Lowers Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

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B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG lessened its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 71.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 32,282 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 80,147 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's holdings in BlackRock were worth $30,554,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,764,072 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $13,027,419,000 after purchasing an additional 387,466 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,496,740 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,100,163 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,152,907,000 after purchasing an additional 329,244 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in BlackRock by 32.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,131,919 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,071,339,000 after buying an additional 279,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 401.5% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 876,836 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.43, for a total transaction of $13,565,933.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 251,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $283,267,354.71. This trade represents a 4.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total value of $4,978,539.54. Following the sale, the director owned 3,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,936,571.86. This represents a 55.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $1,115.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $980.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,151.21.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE BLK opened at $1,140.55 on Wednesday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $1,092.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $994.55. The company has a quick ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,171.89. The company has a market capitalization of $176.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.42.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $10.36 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.39%.

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.

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