Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. Sells 70 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. cut its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 740 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 70 shares during the quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $703,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BLK. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in BlackRock by 3.3% in the third quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 14,622 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $13,883,000 after acquiring an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. lifted its stake in BlackRock by 7.4% during the third quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 1,548 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC now owns 13,367 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $12,692,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Canopy Partners LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Canopy Partners LLC now owns 1,082 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,027,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,251 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,683,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,832,000. The trade was a 64.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $1,036.46 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $724.54 and a 1 year high of $1,068.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50-day moving average is $984.28 and its 200 day moving average is $880.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $10.91 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.17 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on BLK. TD Cowen increased 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. 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 report on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,019.62.

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.