Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Sells 3,248 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 9.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 30,459 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 3,248 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $28,921,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BLK. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the first quarter valued at $27,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. City Holding Co. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the second quarter worth about $53,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on BlackRock from $995.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,010.00 to $1,120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $991.46.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of BLK traded up $4.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $1,007.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 505,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 577,853. The company has a current ratio of 5.06, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company’s 50-day moving average is $915.45 and its 200-day moving average is $837.36. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $596.18 and a 52-week high of $1,032.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.59, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.30.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.44%. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $10.91 EPS. BlackRock’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 BlackRock stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 5,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,826,802.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total transaction of $10,800,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,832,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 66,042 shares of company stock worth $56,857,777. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.