BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lessened its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,884 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 348 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $13,183,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 81.5% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 49 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen raised their price target on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,019.62.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total transaction of $37,851,121.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This trade represents a 84.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 108,190 shares of company stock worth $113,161,681 over the last ninety days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK stock opened at $1,042.87 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $161.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.74, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 5.06, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $1,004.44 and a 200-day moving average of $896.26. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $742.22 and a 12-month high of $1,068.34.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The company had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $10.91 earnings per share. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.35%.

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.