BlackRock $BLK Shares Sold by United Bank

Key Points

• United Bank significantly reduced its stake in BlackRock by 60.8%, now holding 525 shares worth $551,000.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Quotient Wealth Partners and Kanawha Capital Management, increased their holdings in BlackRock during the same period.
• BlackRock's latest earnings report showed an EPS of $11.55, missing estimates, but revenue increased by 25.2% year-over-year.

United Bank cut its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 60.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 525 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 815 shares during the period. United Bank's holdings in BlackRock were worth $551,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 8.5% in the second quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 731 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $767,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. raised its holdings in BlackRock by 2.7% in the second quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 340 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. Huntleigh Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in BlackRock by 1.3% in the second quarter. Huntleigh Advisors Inc. now owns 5,901 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $6,191,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 8.0% in the second quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 6,039 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $6,336,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.7% during the second quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 81,492 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $85,505,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total value of $19,207,611.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 61,369 shares in the company, valued at $68,763,964.50. This trade represents a 21.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.28, for a total transaction of $16,641,167.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 263,751 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $296,002,472.28. The trade was a 5.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $980.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,160.00 to $1,265.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $1,320.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,325.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,300.81.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $1,161.63 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $1,140.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,042.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $179.88 billion, a PE ratio of 29.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.45. 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 $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $11.78 by ($0.23). The company had revenue of $6.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.22 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 15.36%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $11.46 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. BlackRock's payout ratio is currently 53.59%.

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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