BlackRock $BLK Shares Sold by Praxis Investment Management Inc.

Praxis Investment Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 1.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,332 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. Praxis Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,496,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 76.5% during the 1st quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% during the first quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc. boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 200.0% during the second quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BLK. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $980.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,160.00 to $1,265.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Zacks Research lowered shares of BlackRock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $1,320.00 price target on shares of BlackRock and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,280.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,300.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.43, for a total transaction of $13,565,933.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 251,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $283,267,354.71. This represents a 4.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total transaction 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Stock Down 2.6%

BLK stock opened at $1,171.69 on Friday. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,219.94. The firm has a market cap of $181.44 billion, a PE ratio of 30.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,140.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,040.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 4.04 and a quick ratio of 4.04.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 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 analyst estimates of $6.22 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 15.36%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $11.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.39%.

BlackRock Company 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.