Global Wealth Strategies & Associates Sells 13 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Global Wealth Strategies & Associates decreased its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 16.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 66 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 13 shares during the quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates’ holdings in BlackRock were worth $69,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Securian Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock during the first quarter worth approximately $7,331,000. Prudent Man Advisors LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the first quarter worth approximately $2,018,000. Allianz SE boosted its position in BlackRock by 2.6% during the first quarter. Allianz SE now owns 11,025 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,435,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System bought a new stake in BlackRock during the first quarter worth approximately $40,868,000. Finally, Community Financial Services Group LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 17.2% during the first quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 5,702 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,397,000 after purchasing an additional 836 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total value of $4,978,539.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,936,571.86. This trade represents a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the director 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 valued at $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. Wall Street Zen raised BlackRock to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Bank of America upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,214.00 to $1,224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Zacks Research lowered BlackRock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,154.07.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $1,124.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 4.04 and a quick ratio of 4.04. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $1,115.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1,007.38. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $773.74 and a 52-week high of $1,171.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $10.36 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.