UMB Bank n.a. Trims Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

UMB Bank n.a. cut its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 3.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,747 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,119 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $34,892,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Lam Group Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE BLK traded up $2.58 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $958.50. 63,208 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 572,311. The company has a market cap of $142.43 billion, a PE ratio of 24.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.30. 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 $962.95. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $894.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $829.20.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.96 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $4.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.44% and a net margin of 32.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.37 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was 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 trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at $4,826,802.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,832,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 93,042 shares of company stock valued at $79,387,117. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BLK. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $774.00 to $864.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,010.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $948.93.

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.