D.A. Davidson & CO. Lowers Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

D.A. Davidson & CO. trimmed its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,526 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 868 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $9,996,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lafayette Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the second quarter valued at $207,000. Probity Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 9.8% in the second quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. now owns 826 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $867,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the second quarter worth about $34,000. Klingman & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 57.2% in the second quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 1,075 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,128,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the period. Finally, Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.7% in the second quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 832 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $873,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BLK. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,160.00 to $1,265.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Loop Capital set a $1,255.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,299.29.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,127.42 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.58 billion, a PE ratio of 28.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.45. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,219.94. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $1,140.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $1,047.41. The company has a current ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.78 by ($0.23). The company had revenue of $6.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.22 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 15.36%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $11.46 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total value of $19,207,611.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 61,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,763,964.50. This represents a 21.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total transaction of $13,980,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,394,113.20. The trade was a 62.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 59,232 shares of company stock worth $67,055,346. Insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

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.