Checchi Capital Advisers LLC Sells 182 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Checchi Capital Advisers LLC cut its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 8.5% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,966 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 182 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,062,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BLK. Garde Capital Inc. raised its stake in BlackRock by 200.0% during the 2nd quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 76.5% during the first quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% during the first quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The shares were 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 directly owned 263,751 shares in the company, valued at $296,002,472.28. This represents a 5.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director owned 3,506 shares in the company, valued at $3,936,571.86. This represents a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573. Insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target 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. Zacks Research cut BlackRock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,163.00 to $1,312.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Argus reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,093.00 to $1,242.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,213.67.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,160.75 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $179.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.06, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.45. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,183.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $1,129.67 and its 200 day moving average is $1,028.18. The company has a current ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. The company had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $10.36 EPS. Research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 50.39%.

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.