Choreo LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Choreo LLC lowered its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 4.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,587 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 337 shares during the quarter. Choreo LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $6,235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,615,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 35.3% during the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 816 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $837,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Modern Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 81.1% during the 4th quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 717 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $707,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First American Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. First American Trust FSB now owns 11,469 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $11,757,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.43, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 4.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total value of $20,301,321.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 19,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,617,148. This represents a 48.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,352 shares of company stock worth $55,486,962 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of BLK traded up $5.11 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $1,123.48. 516,296 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 672,644. The firm has a market cap of $174.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a current ratio of 4.34. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $773.74 and a 52-week high of $1,130.66. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,027.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $976.73.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.83% and a net margin of 29.68%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $10.36 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on BLK. Bank of America raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,214.00 to $1,224.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,151.21.

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.