Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Sells 40 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. trimmed its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 1.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,731 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 40 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,866,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,615,000 after buying an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 10.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,698 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,500,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 24.9% during the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 633 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Finally, Advisor Resource Council bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth $542,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total value of $20,301,321.60. Following the sale, the director owned 19,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,617,148. The trade was a 48.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total value of $19,207,611.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 61,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,763,964.50. This trade represents a 21.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $1,161.63 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $179.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $1,140.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,043.90. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 15.36% and a net margin of 26.64%.The business’s revenue was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $11.46 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were given a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $1,320.00 price objective on BlackRock and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $980.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,300.81.

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.