Cerity Partners LLC Sells 600 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Cerity Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 0.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 137,607 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 600 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $144,384,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Westerkirk Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter worth about $2,877,000. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey boosted its position in BlackRock by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 23,167 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $24,308,000 after acquiring an additional 1,693 shares during the last quarter. Opus Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,420,000. Ally Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,893,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 13.5% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,695 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $18,641,000 after purchasing an additional 2,347 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total value of $13,980,480.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,394,113.20. This represents a 62.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Martin Small sold 1,258 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,043.38, for a total transaction of $1,312,572.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 6,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,478,346.42. This represents a 16.85% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $1,071.87 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.33, a current ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $1,100.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,084.42. The company has a market cap of $166.30 billion, a PE ratio of 27.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.47. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.78 by ($0.23). The business had revenue of $6.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.22 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 14.80%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $11.46 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 53.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,372.00 to $1,313.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,312.00 to $1,305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,362.00 to $1,486.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,093.00 to $1,242.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,302.59.

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.