D.A. Davidson & CO. Sells 743 Shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

D.A. Davidson & CO. decreased its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 6.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,394 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 743 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $9,838,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Xcel Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 107.2% in the first quarter. Xcel Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,477 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,398,000 after acquiring an additional 764 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 3,310 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,005,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 615 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $582,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in BlackRock by 25.3% in the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,554 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,471,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the period. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 21,841 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $20,672,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $1,076.28 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $166.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.41. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $976.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $969.46. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $773.74 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a current ratio of 4.34.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 30.09% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $9.81 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 50.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America reduced their target price on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,110.92.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total value of $9,125,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 66,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,256,025. This represents a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.