Patton Fund Management Inc. Cuts Stake in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Patton Fund Management Inc. reduced its stake in BlackRock by 41.6% in the second quarter, now holding 2,683 shares valued at approximately $2.8 million.
• A significant sale by BlackRock's Director Fabrizio Freda resulted in a 55.84% decrease in their ownership, while CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares, decreasing his ownership by 5.32%.
• Equities research analysts have set new price targets for BlackRock, with Barclays raising theirs to $1,220 and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods adjusting theirs to $1,224, maintaining an "outperform" rating for the company.

Patton Fund Management Inc. cut its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 41.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,683 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 1,910 shares during the period. Patton Fund Management Inc.'s holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,815,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Securian Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock during the first quarter valued at approximately $7,331,000. Prudent Man Advisors LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,018,000. Allianz SE boosted its stake in BlackRock by 2.6% during the first quarter. Allianz SE now owns 11,025 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $10,435,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System bought a new position in BlackRock during the first quarter valued at approximately $40,868,000. Finally, Community Financial Services Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 5,702 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $5,397,000 after purchasing an additional 836 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total transaction of $4,978,539.54. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,506 shares in the company, valued at $3,936,571.86. This trade represents a 55.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.28, for a total value of $16,641,167.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 263,751 shares in the company, valued at $296,002,472.28. The trade was a 5.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BLK shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Barclays raised their price objective on BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,154.07.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $1,157.69 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. The business's 50 day moving average price is $1,124.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,019.76. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $773.74 and a fifty-two week high of $1,171.89. The company has a market cap of $179.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.99, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $10.36 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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 Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.39%.

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.

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