Jones Financial Companies Lllp Sells 23,556 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Jones Financial Companies Lllp has decreased its holdings in BlackRock by 55.1%, now owning 19,223 shares valued at approximately $17.93 million.
• Several institutional investors significantly increased their stakes in BlackRock, with GAMMA Investing LLC raising theirs by an astounding 104,598.9% during the same period.
• BlackRock reported earnings of $12.05 per share, surpassing estimates, and also declared a quarterly dividend of $5.21, reflecting an annualized yield of 1.9%.

Jones Financial Companies Lllp lowered its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 55.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,223 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 23,556 shares during the quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp's holdings in BlackRock were worth $17,931,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 76.5% in the 1st quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,214.00 to $1,224.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Zacks Research cut shares of BlackRock from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,154.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director owned 61,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at $68,763,964.50. The trade was a 21.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the business's 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 251,697 shares in the company, valued at $283,267,354.71. The trade was a 4.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573. Insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE BLK traded down $9.84 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $1,124.34. 544,785 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 436,451. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $773.74 and a 12-month high of $1,171.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 4.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $1,115.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,007.38. The firm has a market cap of $174.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $10.36 earnings per share. BlackRock's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. BlackRock's payout ratio is presently 50.39%.

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.