Financial Counselors Inc. Sells 236 Shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Financial Counselors Inc. cut its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 7.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,956 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 236 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.'s holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,798,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Cedar Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. TD Cowen lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $1,115.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays upped their price objective on BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,108.62.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,075.92 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 4.34, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,086.84. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $986.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $970.03. The company has a market cap of $166.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.14, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.41.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a net margin of 30.09% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The firm had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $9.81 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock's payout ratio is currently 50.63%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total value of $9,125,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 66,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at $60,256,025. This trade represents a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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