Renaissance Technologies LLC Sells 71,600 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Renaissance Technologies LLC lowered its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 74.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 71,600 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $19,132,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BLK. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Lam Group Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Fairman Group LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $928.79 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $138.02 billion, a PE ratio of 23.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.30. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $596.18 and a 52 week high of $942.73. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $868.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $817.96.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.96 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $4.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.44%. The company’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $9.28 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.34 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on BLK shares. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $1,000.00 price objective on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $902.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total transaction of $24,833,712.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,718 shares in the company, valued at $298,272,703.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were 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 directly owns 353,718 shares in the company, valued at $298,272,703.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at $4,826,802.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 93,042 shares of company stock worth $79,387,117 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.