Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Cuts Stake in BlackRock $BLK

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lessened its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 21.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,234 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,703 shares during the quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $7,268,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Westerkirk Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the second quarter worth about $2,877,000. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,201,000. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 3rd quarter worth about $700,000. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 256,937 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $269,591,000 after acquiring an additional 19,404 shares during the period. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 6,347.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 42,234 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $49,239,000 after acquiring an additional 41,579 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 Stephen Cohen sold 2,179 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,073.87, for a total value of $2,339,962.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,543 shares in the company, valued at $7,026,331.41. This trade represents a 24.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,171.14, for a total value of $31,675,823.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 10,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,363,724.98. This trade represents a 71.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 111,319 shares of company stock valued at $123,999,249. Insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on BLK. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 17th. CICC Research upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Barclays increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $1,351.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Evercore cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,235.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 6th. One 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 data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,308.89.

BlackRock Stock Up 3.0%

NYSE BLK opened at $971.73 on Wednesday. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,219.94. The company has a market capitalization of $151.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.43, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.48. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,069.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,089.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.55 by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.80 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 22.93% and a return on equity of 14.78%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $11.93 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $5.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is a boost from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 64.71%.

About BlackRock

BlackRock, Inc is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of products and services to institutional, intermediary and individual investors. Its core activities include portfolio management across active and index strategies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) under the iShares brand, fixed income, equity and multi-asset solutions, as well as alternatives such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure. The firm also offers cash management and liquidity solutions and retirement-focused products designed for defined contribution and defined benefit investors.

In addition to traditional investment management, BlackRock is known for its technology and risk management capabilities, most prominently its Aladdin platform, which combines portfolio management, trading and risk analytics and is used both internally and licensed to external clients.