BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Eagle Ridge Investment Management

Eagle Ridge Investment Management lessened its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,439 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 80 shares during the quarter. Eagle Ridge Investment Management’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $12,038,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 208.3% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 37 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total transaction of $25,008,229.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 383,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $309,327,694.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total transaction of $7,155,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,151,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total value of $25,008,229.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 383,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $309,327,694.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $915.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $844.17.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK traded up $6.86 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $789.13. The stock had a trading volume of 367,324 shares, compared to its average volume of 603,637. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 5.32 and a quick ratio of 5.32. The company has a market capitalization of $117.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $779.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $792.86. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $596.18 and a 52 week high of $845.00.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.42 by $0.39. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.26% and a return on equity of 15.24%. The firm had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $7.93 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 51.84%.

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.