W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. Lowers Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. decreased its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 15.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 537 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 97 shares during the period. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $371,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Steward Financial Group LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management raised its stake in BlackRock by 71.4% in the fourth quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 48 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Centerpoint Advisors LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 48.6% in the first quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 52 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors own 77.01% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $694.89 on Tuesday. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $503.12 and a one year high of $785.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 4.21 and a current ratio of 4.21. The firm has a market cap of $103.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.29, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $706.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $681.26.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 14th. The asset manager reported $9.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.52 by $0.76. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.90% and a return on equity of 14.29%. The business had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $7.36 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 35.48 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $5.00 per share. This represents a $20.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 7th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 58.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on BlackRock from $780.00 to $770.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 3rd. Citigroup upped their target price on BlackRock from $750.00 to $815.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on BlackRock from $881.00 to $888.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $770.00 to $835.00 in a research report on Monday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on BlackRock from $780.00 to $820.00 in a research report on Monday, July 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $767.69.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 20,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $742.04, for a total transaction of $14,989,208.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 464,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $344,399,315. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 2,079 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $733.82, for a total value of $1,525,611.78. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,520,331.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 20,200 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $742.04, for a total value of $14,989,208.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 464,125 shares in the company, valued at $344,399,315. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.06% of the company’s stock.

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.