Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Sells 964 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lowered its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 62.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 577 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 964 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $481,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BLK. Emerald Advisors LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 1,048 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $851,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 1,101 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $712,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 200 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $163,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 764 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $620,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $439,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $787.60 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $596.18 and a fifty-two week high of $845.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 5.32 and a current ratio of 5.32. The company has a market capitalization of $117.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a fifty day moving average of $775.61 and a 200 day moving average of $791.47.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.42 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.24% and a net margin of 32.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $7.93 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 51.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $930.00 target price (up from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $845.42.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

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

BlackRock Company 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.