Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Sells 913 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Sterling Investment Counsel LLC reduced its stake in BlackRock by 73.2%, selling 913 shares during the 2nd quarter, now holding 335 shares valued at $351,000.
• BlackRock reported quarterly earnings with an EPS of $12.05, surpassing analysts' expectations of $10.41, and experienced a 12.9% year-over-year revenue increase.
• The firm declared a quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $20.84 and a yield of 1.8%.

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC lowered its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 73.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 335 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 913 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $351,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. McLean Asset Management Corp grew its stake in BlackRock by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 266 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Oklahoma grew its stake in BlackRock by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Trust Co. of Oklahoma now owns 2,023 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,123,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co grew its stake in BlackRock by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co now owns 799 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $838,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 223 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Finally, Detalus Advisors LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC now owns 409 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $387,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,160.23 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $1,128.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,026.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $179.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.05, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.45. BlackRock has a one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,183.50. 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 (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $10.36 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were issued 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 1.8%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director owned 61,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $68,763,964.50. This trade represents a 21.83% decrease in their position. The transaction 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 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 transaction, the director directly owned 3,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,936,571.86. This represents a 55.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573 in the last quarter. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on BLK shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,093.00 to $1,242.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $980.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Twelve investment 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 stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,194.86.

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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