BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Sold by BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. trimmed its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 12.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 139,620 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 19,371 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned about 0.09% of BlackRock worth $132,571,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter worth about $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 81.5% in the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 49 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK opened at $1,024.67 on Thursday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $718.72 and a 12-month high of $1,068.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $158.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $978.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $876.59. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. The business had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.03 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $10.91 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.17 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Three investment 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.com, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,019.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,832,000. The trade was a 64.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.90% 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.