Syntax Research Inc. Sells 46 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Syntax Research Inc. reduced its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 8.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 474 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 46 shares during the quarter. Syntax Research Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $450,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS now owns 603 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $573,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. boosted its stake in BlackRock by 3.7% during the third quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 277 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter valued at $518,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 55.1% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 28,958 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $27,496,000 after acquiring an additional 10,284 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Destination Wealth Management grew its holdings in BlackRock by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 1,140 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,082,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen increased their target price on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Sunday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,039.17.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,050.00 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market capitalization of $162.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $1,019.85 and a 200 day moving average of $910.97. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $745.55 and a 52 week high of $1,082.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $10.91 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 50.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, 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 the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.