Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Sells 2,899 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC significantly reduced its holdings in BlackRock by 86.5%, selling 2,899 shares, leaving it with a total of 453 shares valued at $475,000.
• BlackRock's earnings per share for the recently concluded quarter was $11.55, which fell short of analysts' expectations of $11.78, although revenue increased by 25.2% year-over-year to $6.51 billion.
• Several analysts have recently upgraded their price targets for BlackRock, with Goldman Sachs raising its target from $1,163 to $1,312 and Morgan Stanley from $1,362 to $1,486, while maintaining a general "buy" or "outperform" rating.

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 86.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 453 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 2,899 shares during the quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Welch Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.2% during the second quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 760 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $797,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.7% during the second quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 340 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 3.9% during the second quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 266 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Oklahoma grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.5% during the second quarter. Trust Co. of Oklahoma now owns 2,023 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,123,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.3% during the second quarter. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co now owns 799 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $838,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,138.60 on Friday. 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 fifty-two week low of $773.74 and a fifty-two week high of $1,219.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $1,139.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1,051.77. The company has a market capitalization of $176.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.28, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $11.78 by ($0.23). BlackRock had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 15.36%. The company had revenue of $6.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $11.46 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total value of $19,207,611.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 61,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,763,964.50. The trade was a 21.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total value of $13,980,480.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,205 shares in the company, valued at $8,394,113.20. This trade represents a 62.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,163.00 to $1,312.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,362.00 to $1,486.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded BlackRock from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,299.29.

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.

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