Raiffeisen Bank International AG Sells 2,833 Shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Raiffeisen Bank International AG cut its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 35.1% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,246 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,833 shares during the quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $4,966,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 76.5% during the first quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $1,091.29 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $1,040.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $981.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a current ratio of 4.34. The company has a market cap of $169.07 billion, a PE ratio of 26.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.42. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $773.74 and a 52-week high of $1,130.66.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.83%. The business had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $10.36 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 50.39%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total transaction of $4,978,539.54. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,936,571.86. The trade was a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total value of $19,207,611.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 61,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,763,964.50. This represents a 21.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573 in the last quarter. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on BLK. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,214.00 to $1,224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Argus reissued a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded BlackRock to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,151.21.

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.