Stifel Financial Corp Sells 12,603 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Stifel Financial Corp reduced its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 7.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 153,381 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 12,603 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $145,725,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BLK. Marino Stram & Associates LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 0.3% in the third quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 3,399 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,227,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 328 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,424 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,251,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in BlackRock by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,979 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,829,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,524 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,447,000 after buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on BLK. 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 report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,010.00 to $1,120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,019.62.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $1,045.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,002.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $893.96. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $742.22 and a 12 month high of $1,068.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $161.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.81, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The business had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $10.91 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.3 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.35%.

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.