First Interstate Bank Sells 64 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

First Interstate Bank decreased its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 10.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 572 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 64 shares during the quarter. First Interstate Bank’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $600,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total transaction of $20,301,321.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 19,205 shares in the company, valued at $21,617,148. This represents a 48.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director owned 61,369 shares in the company, 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 ninety days, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,394.00 to $1,456.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,301.00 to $1,407.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,310.00 to $1,360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,300.81.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,161.63 on Monday. 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 company has a market capitalization 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,140.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,043.90. BlackRock has a one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its 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). 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $11.46 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given 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 presently 53.59%.

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.