HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 733 Shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its stake in BlackRock by 0.9%, selling 733 shares and currently holding 85,018 shares valued at approximately $80.47 million.
• Insiders at BlackRock have sold 66,494 shares valued at around $74.69 million in the last quarter, impacting their ownership presence to 1.98%.
• BlackRock recently reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $12.05 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst estimates and achieving a year-over-year revenue increase of 12.9%.

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 0.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,018 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 733 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.05% of BlackRock worth $80,468,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 76.5% in the 1st quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Stock Down 2.1%

BLK traded down $24.28 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $1,135.88. 580,186 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 520,802. The company has a market cap of $175.89 billion, a PE ratio of 27.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.42. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $1,071.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $989.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 4.04 and a quick ratio of 4.04. BlackRock has a one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,171.89.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $10.36 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock's payout ratio is currently 50.39%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $3,936,571.86. This represents a 55.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573 over the last 90 days. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BLK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $980.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,151.21.

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.