Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Decreases Stock Position in BlackRock $BLK

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 2.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,693 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 69 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,825,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of BLK. Securian Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the first quarter valued at $7,331,000. Prudent Man Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the first quarter valued at $2,018,000. Allianz SE grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.6% in the first quarter. Allianz SE now owns 11,025 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,435,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the first quarter valued at $40,868,000. Finally, Community Financial Services Group LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 17.2% in the first quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 5,702 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,397,000 after purchasing an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.43, for a total transaction of $13,565,933.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 251,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $283,267,354.71. The trade was a 4.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total value of $20,301,321.60. Following the sale, the director directly owned 19,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,617,148. This trade represents a 48.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,132.12 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $1,134.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1,035.56. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $773.74 and a 12-month high of $1,184.13. The firm has a market cap of $175.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $10.36 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 50.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,163.00 to $1,312.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,093.00 to $1,242.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $980.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Argus reissued a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,258.56.

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.