Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC Reduces Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC lessened its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 14.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,035 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $5,730,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 89,389.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,046,131 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $993,312,000 after purchasing an additional 1,044,962 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 104,468.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 792,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,526,120,000 after acquiring an additional 791,874 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,363,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,244,608,000 after acquiring an additional 226,135 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $115,377,000. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 174.8% during the second quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 184,291 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $145,096,000 after purchasing an additional 117,218 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK opened at $1,058.33 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $163.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $1,013.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $902.97. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $745.55 and a 1 year high of $1,082.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $10.91 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.18 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BLK. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,120.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,039.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % 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, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.83, for a total transaction of $18,824,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 8,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,023,421.24. This represents a 67.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 108,190 shares of company stock valued at $113,161,681. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.