West Branch Capital LLC Lowers Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

West Branch Capital LLC decreased its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 3.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,239 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. West Branch Capital LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,176,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. DMC Group LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 4.0% during the third quarter. DMC Group LLC now owns 1,761 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,672,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 16.8% during the third quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $999,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 9.1% during the third quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 573 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $544,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the third quarter valued at $268,000. Finally, Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the third quarter valued at $630,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $774.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,010.00 to $1,120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $995.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $991.46.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.5 %

BlackRock stock traded up $4.52 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $1,007.02. 505,446 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 577,853. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $596.18 and a 12 month high of $1,032.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $915.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $837.50. The company has a market cap of $149.64 billion, a PE ratio of 25.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.30.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.44%. The company had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $10.91 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.84%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total value of $1,289,224.48. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total value of $1,289,224.48. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 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 trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 66,042 shares of company stock worth $56,857,777. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.