BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by Bard Financial Services Inc.

Bard Financial Services Inc. lessened its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 29.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,935 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,200 shares during the quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,787,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in BlackRock by 2.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,182,262 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,990,052,000 after buying an additional 292,017 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in BlackRock by 11.1% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,354,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,630,127,000 after buying an additional 435,358 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,015,337 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,636,052,000 after buying an additional 47,128 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in BlackRock by 2.9% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,665,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,310,762,000 after buying an additional 46,728 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in BlackRock by 1.9% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,197,274 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $942,640,000 after buying an additional 22,311 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group dropped their target price on BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $932.71.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total value of $22,529,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,407,041.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,826,802.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total value of $22,529,340.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,407,041.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 93,042 shares of company stock valued at $79,387,117. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK traded down $2.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $949.19. 491,906 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 575,968. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $890.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $826.50. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $596.18 and a 12 month high of $960.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 5.06, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.96 by $0.40. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.44% and a net margin of 32.36%. The company had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $9.28 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 51.84%.

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.