BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Linscomb Wealth Inc.

Linscomb Wealth Inc. trimmed its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLKFree Report) by 1.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 13,532 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 254 shares during the period. BlackRock makes up approximately 0.6% of Linscomb Wealth Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Linscomb Wealth Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $12,807,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in BlackRock by 2.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,764,072 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $13,027,419,000 after purchasing an additional 387,466 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in BlackRock by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,097,524 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,200,450,000 after acquiring an additional 93,844 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 104,598.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,312,759,000 after acquiring an additional 3,496,740 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,100,163 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,152,907,000 after purchasing an additional 329,244 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,591,716 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,631,684,000 after buying an additional 272,176 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total value of $19,207,611.00. Following the sale, the director owned 61,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,763,964.50. The trade was a 21.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total value of $4,978,539.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,936,571.86. This represents a 55.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BLK shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $1,115.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Argus restated a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,151.21.

View Our Latest Analysis on BlackRock

BlackRock Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,124.20 on Friday. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,131.93. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,054.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $985.34. The company has a current ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market cap of $174.17 billion, a PE ratio of 27.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.42.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLKGet Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $10.36 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 50.39%.

About BlackRock

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

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