Orion Capital Management LLC Reduces Position in BlackRock $BLK

Orion Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 2.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,004 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 30 shares during the period. Orion Capital Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,053,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Garde Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 200.0% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 107.1% in the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 29 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 76.5% during the first quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Finally, Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,310.00 to $1,360.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,280.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,163.00 to $1,312.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Loop Capital set a $1,255.00 price objective on BlackRock in a report on Tuesday. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,299.29.

BlackRock Stock Up 1.2%

BlackRock stock opened at $1,138.60 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $1,139.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1,053.41. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,219.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $176.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.28, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.78 by ($0.23). BlackRock had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 15.36%. The company had revenue of $6.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $11.46 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total value of $13,980,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,394,113.20. This trade represents a 62.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.