World Investment Advisors Sells 930 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

World Investment Advisors lessened its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 20.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,562 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 930 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in BlackRock were worth $4,153,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,615,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 1,330.4% in the 1st quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 329 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 42.0% in the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,027 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $972,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the first quarter worth about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,088.78 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.33, a quick ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $1,073.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,094.24. The firm has a market cap of $168.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.47. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $11.78 by ($0.23). The business had revenue of $6.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.22 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.80% and a net margin of 26.64%.The firm’s revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $11.46 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on BLK. UBS Group began coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $1,180.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on BlackRock from $1,390.00 to $1,322.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,456.00 to $1,464.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Argus upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,165.00 to $1,330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,316.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total transaction of $13,980,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,205 shares in the company, valued at $8,394,113.20. This represents a 62.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Martin Small sold 1,258 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,043.38, for a total value of $1,312,572.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 6,209 shares in the company, valued at $6,478,346.42. This trade represents a 16.85% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

About BlackRock

BlackRock, Inc is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of products and services to institutional, intermediary and individual investors. Its core activities include portfolio management across active and index strategies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) under the iShares brand, fixed income, equity and multi-asset solutions, as well as alternatives such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure. The firm also offers cash management and liquidity solutions and retirement-focused products designed for defined contribution and defined benefit investors.

In addition to traditional investment management, BlackRock is known for its technology and risk management capabilities, most prominently its Aladdin platform, which combines portfolio management, trading and risk analytics and is used both internally and licensed to external clients.