BlackRock $BLK Shares Sold by Associated Banc Corp

Associated Banc Corp cut its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 1.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,019 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 324 shares during the quarter. Associated Banc Corp’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $30,448,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Garde Capital Inc. grew its position in BlackRock by 200.0% during the second quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Traub Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 107.1% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 29 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 87.5% in the 2nd quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the topic of several research reports. Zacks Research lowered BlackRock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,312.00 to $1,305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 14th. UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,302.53.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total value of $13,980,480.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,394,113.20. The trade was a 62.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $1,018.11 on Tuesday. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $773.74 and a 1 year high of $1,219.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 4.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $1,115.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,080.10. The company has a market cap of $157.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.18, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.48.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced 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 analyst estimates of $6.22 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 15.36%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $11.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.59%.

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.