Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC Has $5.73 Million Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,035 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $5,730,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 257.9% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 68 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA raised its position in BlackRock by 57.4% during the second quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 716 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $604,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in BlackRock by 1,077.8% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 49,657 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $39,096,000 after acquiring an additional 45,441 shares in the last quarter. Old Port Advisors increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 404 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 32.4% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 678 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $565,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 36,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.90, for a total value of $37,851,121.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,777,432. This represents a 84.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total transaction of $56,485,620.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 108,190 shares of company stock worth $113,161,681. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded down $2.28 on Friday, hitting $1,056.54. 525,044 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 587,489. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06. The company's 50 day moving average price is $1,013.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $902.97. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $745.55 and a one year high of $1,082.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $163.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.12, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. The company had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 31.37%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $10.91 EPS. Research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.18 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on BLK shares. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Saturday, December 7th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,245.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,120.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,039.17.

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.