Sunbelt Securities Inc. Has $655,000 Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. reduced its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 832 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 17 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $655,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Lam Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the first quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.6 %

BLK opened at $934.10 on Wednesday. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $596.18 and a fifty-two week high of $952.75. The company has a market capitalization of $138.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.74, a P/E/G 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. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $883.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $823.65.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.96 by $0.40. The business 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $9.28 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.37 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.84%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,832,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total transaction 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 approximately $5,832,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 93,042 shares of company stock valued at $79,387,117. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on BLK. Argus boosted their target price on BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $1,000.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $945.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $908.60.

About BlackRock

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.