Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Decreases Position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lowered its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 52.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,771 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 3,064 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.'s holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,623,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 104,598.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,312,759,000 after purchasing an additional 3,496,740 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,356,357,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 401.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,095,241 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,122,743,000 after purchasing an additional 876,836 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $572,730,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,100,163 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,152,907,000 after purchasing an additional 329,244 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK traded down $1.42 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $1,102.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 545,380 shares, compared to its average volume of 693,792. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $773.74 and a 12-month high of $1,105.72. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $996.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $970.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $170.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.79, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 4.34 and a quick ratio of 4.34.

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

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. BlackRock's payout ratio is presently 50.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BLK. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,132.29.

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.