Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Cuts Stake in BlackRock $BLK

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. reduced its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 1.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,215 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 85 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $7,570,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Securian Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter valued at $7,331,000. Prudent Man Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter valued at $2,018,000. Allianz SE lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.6% during the first quarter. Allianz SE now owns 11,025 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,435,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter valued at $40,868,000. Finally, Community Financial Services Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 17.2% during the first quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 5,702 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,397,000 after purchasing an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on BLK shares. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $980.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,093.00 to $1,242.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research 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 issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,300.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.28, for a total transaction of $16,641,167.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 263,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $296,002,472.28. This trade represents a 5.32% 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 Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total value of $4,978,539.54. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,506 shares in the company, valued at $3,936,571.86. This trade represents a 55.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573 over the last ninety days. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE BLK opened at $1,160.01 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $1,141.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,046.27. The company has a quick ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,219.94. The company has a market capitalization of $179.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $11.78 by ($0.23). BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.36% and a net margin of 26.64%.The company had revenue of $6.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.22 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $11.46 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.59%.

BlackRock Profile

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.