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

West Branch Capital LLC cut its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 3.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund 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 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 35.8% during the 1st quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,732 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,945,000 after buying an additional 1,248 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its position in BlackRock by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 387,202 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $322,810,000 after buying an additional 14,477 shares during the last quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth approximately $6,735,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in BlackRock by 219.5% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 44,065 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $36,737,000 after buying an additional 30,274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth approximately $161,918,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,826,802.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at $4,826,802.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total value of $24,833,712.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $298,272,703.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,042 shares of company stock valued at $56,857,777 in the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

BlackRock stock traded up $4.52 during trading on Friday, reaching $1,007.02. The company had a trading volume of 505,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 577,853. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $596.18 and a 1-year high of $1,032.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $915.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $837.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.64 billion, a PE ratio of 25.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.30.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $10.91 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,010.00 to $1,120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Sunday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $995.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $991.46.

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.