Abacus Planning Group Inc. Decreases Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Abacus Planning Group Inc. reduced its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 316 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 43 shares during the period. Abacus Planning Group Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $332,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. 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 acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Oklahoma lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.5% in the second quarter. Trust Co. of Oklahoma now owns 2,023 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,123,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.3% in the second quarter. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co now owns 799 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $838,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 20.4% during the 1st quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 65 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK opened at $1,160.75 on Friday. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $773.74 and a 1 year high of $1,183.50. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,129.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,027.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $179.74 billion, a PE ratio of 28.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 4.04.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion during 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%. BlackRock’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 business posted $10.36 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.39%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 3,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,936,571.86. The trade was a 55.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total transaction of $20,301,321.60. Following the sale, the director directly owned 19,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,617,148. This trade represents a 48.43% 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 three months. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Argus reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,280.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of BlackRock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,213.67.

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.