Wright Investors Service Inc. Has $2 Million Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Wright Investors Service Inc. lessened its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 28.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,102 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 844 shares during the period. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,996,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Lam Group Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock traded down $2.30 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $949.19. 491,906 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 575,968. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $890.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $826.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $596.18 and a 52 week high of $960.74. The firm has a market cap of $141.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.12, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.30.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.96 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $4.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.44%. The company’s quarterly 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 forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.37 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BLK shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $945.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $932.71.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total value of $10,800,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,832,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total value of $1,289,224.48. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,826,802.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total value of $10,800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,832,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 93,042 shares of company stock valued at $79,387,117 over the last ninety days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.