Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 11,643 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lessened its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 63.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,808 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 11,643 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans' holdings in BlackRock were worth $6,463,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Claro Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 1,820 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,728,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 3.8% during the third quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 462 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.6% in the third quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 1,947 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,849,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. Schear Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 14.2% during the third quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 822 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $780,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 3.7% in the third quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,627 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $6,292,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,019.62.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total transaction of $10,800,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,832,000. This represents a 64.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock traded up $8.46 on Friday, hitting $1,036.46. 713,063 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 578,257. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $724.54 and a one year high of $1,068.34. The firm's 50 day moving average is $984.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $879.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.53 billion, a PE ratio of 25.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $10.91 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.35%.

BlackRock 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.