Blue Square Asset Management LLC Trims Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Blue Square Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,908 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 41 shares during the period. BlackRock comprises 1.6% of Blue Square Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Blue Square Asset Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,424,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA grew its holdings in BlackRock by 208.3% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 37 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total value of $7,155,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,151,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total value of $7,155,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,151,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total value of $25,008,229.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 383,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $309,327,694.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $915.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. UBS Group lowered their price target on BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $844.67.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.6 %

BlackRock stock traded up $13.26 during trading on Thursday, reaching $825.26. 634,113 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 598,198. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $596.18 and a 52-week high of $845.00. The company has a market capitalization of $122.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.87, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 5.32 and a quick ratio of 5.32. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $784.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $792.69.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.42 by $0.39. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.24% and a net margin of 32.26%. The company had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $7.93 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were given a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.84%.

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.