Holderness Investments Co. Trims Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Holderness Investments Co. cut its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 4.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 583 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 25 shares during the period. Holderness Investments Co.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. XML Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.6% during the second quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 473 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $372,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 6.1% in the second quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 226 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $177,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. Forza Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.3% during the second quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $822,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 4.4% during the second quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 311 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 17.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 89 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Price Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $928.79 on Friday. 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 200 day simple moving average is $817.89. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $596.18 and a 52 week high of $942.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $138.02 billion, a PE ratio of 23.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.30.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.96 by $0.40. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.44%. The business had revenue of $4.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $9.28 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.34 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on BlackRock from $920.00 to $945.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $902.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were 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 owns 5,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other BlackRock news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total value of $1,289,224.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was 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 approximately $298,272,703.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 93,042 shares of company stock worth $79,387,117 over the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.