Sentry Investment Management LLC Lowers Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Sentry Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 17.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 670 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 137 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $527,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Lam Group Inc. acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total value of $24,833,712.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,718 shares in the company, valued at $298,272,703.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total value of $10,800,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,832,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $24,833,712.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,272,703.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 93,042 shares of company stock worth $79,387,117 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $883.47.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $883.79 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $852.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $812.86. The firm has a market cap of $131.33 billion, a PE ratio of 22.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.30. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $596.18 and a one year high of $903.46.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.96 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $4.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.44% and a net margin of 32.36%. The company’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $9.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.34 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.