Bridges Investment Management Inc. Sells 1,263 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Bridges Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in BlackRock by 1.4%, selling 1,263 shares to end with a total of 86,470 shares, which account for 1.2% of its holdings.
• Insider selling has been significant, with director Fabrizio Freda selling 4,434 shares for nearly $5 million, resulting in a 55.84% decrease in his position.
• BlackRock's recent earnings report showed $11.55 earnings per share, missing the consensus estimate by $0.23, despite a year-over-year revenue increase of 25.2%.

Bridges Investment Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 1.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 86,470 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 1,263 shares during the period. BlackRock accounts for approximately 1.2% of Bridges Investment Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Bridges Investment Management Inc. owned 0.06% of BlackRock worth $90,729,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Uptick Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 2nd quarter valued at $343,000. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 48.2% during the 2nd quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. now owns 676 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $710,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Smart Portfolios LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Smart Portfolios LLC now owns 857 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $899,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 321 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its stake in BlackRock by 20.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 2,675 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,806,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total transaction of $4,978,539.54. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the company'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 directly owned 61,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at $68,763,964.50. The trade was a 21.83% 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 90 days. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,163.00 to $1,312.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,093.00 to $1,242.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,310.00 to $1,360.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,300.81.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK opened at $1,201.37 on Thursday. 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 market capitalization of $186.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.45. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $1,138.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,039.23. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $11.78 by ($0.23). The company had revenue of $6.51 billion for 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%. BlackRock's revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $11.46 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. 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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