Park Avenue Securities LLC Lowers Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Park Avenue Securities LLC decreased its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 7.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,853 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 722 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $8,406,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Farmers Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 7.6% in the third quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 282 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 6.6% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 28,364 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $26,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,745 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 12.1% in the third quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 2,022 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,920,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Weybosset Research & Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter worth $218,000. Finally, Abacus Planning Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 4.9% in the third quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 340 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $323,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,832,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. This 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 at this link. 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 sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,832,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 93,042 shares of company stock worth $79,387,117. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock traded down $2.30 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $949.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 491,906 shares, compared to its average volume of 575,968. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $890.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $826.50. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $596.18 and a 12-month high of $960.74. The company has a market cap of $141.05 billion, a PE ratio of 24.12, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced 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. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.44% and a net margin of 32.36%. The business had revenue of $4.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $9.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were given a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 is currently 51.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on BlackRock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $1,000.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen cut their price objective on BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on BlackRock from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $932.71.

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.