National Bank of Canada FI Sells 32,612 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

National Bank of Canada FI decreased its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 140,713 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 32,612 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned approximately 0.09% of BlackRock worth $133,608,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 9.6% in the second quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,422 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,119,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 226 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $177,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 12.3% during the second quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 3,226 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,540,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Sitrin Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 0.3% in the second quarter. Sitrin Capital Management LLC now owns 5,403 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,254,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 2.9% in the second quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,234 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,334,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. The trade was a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 108,190 shares of company stock valued at $113,161,681. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.1 %

BlackRock stock opened at $1,043.31 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $161.59 billion, a PE ratio of 25.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $742.22 and a fifty-two week high of $1,068.34. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,002.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $893.96.

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

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,010.00 to $1,120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Saturday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,019.62.

BlackRock 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.