Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI Sells 3,191 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI reduced its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 26.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,815 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 3,191 shares during the period. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $6,940,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $1,812,920,000. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 57.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,514,999 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,853,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279,952 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,918,878 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,181,346,000 after purchasing an additional 749,654 shares during the last quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 24,171.5% in the first quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 416,014 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $346,831,000 after buying an additional 414,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in BlackRock by 2.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,182,262 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,990,052,000 after buying an additional 292,017 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE BLK traded down $2.41 on Monday, reaching $870.08. The company had a trading volume of 456,024 shares, compared to its average volume of 600,893. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $596.18 and a 52 week high of $885.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $820.38 and its 200-day moving average is $803.13. The company has a quick ratio of 5.32, a current ratio of 5.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $129.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.11, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.32.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.96 by $0.40. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 32.36%. The company had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.28 EPS. BlackRock’s revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.23 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 51.84%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total transaction of $22,529,340.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,407,041.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total transaction of $24,833,712.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $298,272,703.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total value of $22,529,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,407,041.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 81,042 shares of company stock valued at $68,587,117 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI increased their price target on BlackRock from $910.00 to $920.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $874.07.

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.