BlackRock $BLK Shares Sold by First Merchants Corp

First Merchants Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,681 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 467 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp's holdings in BlackRock were worth $12,256,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Securian Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $7,331,000. Prudent Man Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,018,000. Allianz SE lifted its stake in BlackRock by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Allianz SE now owns 11,025 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $10,435,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $40,868,000. Finally, Community Financial Services Group LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 5,702 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $5,397,000 after acquiring an additional 836 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total transaction of $19,207,611.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 61,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at $68,763,964.50. This represents a 21.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total transaction of $4,978,539.54. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,936,571.86. The trade was a 55.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573 over the last three months. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BLK. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $980.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Argus reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,224.00 to $1,396.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 report on Wednesday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,254.47.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $1,163.72 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $180.21 billion, a PE ratio of 28.14, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $1,132.82 and a 200 day moving average of $1,032.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 4.04. BlackRock has a one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,184.13.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The company had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $10.36 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.39%.

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.

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