Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC trimmed its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,884 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 348 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $13,183,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,904,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its position in BlackRock by 2.3% during the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 27,092 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,724,000 after buying an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 20.4% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,338 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,169,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.9% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 117,299 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $111,377,000 after acquiring an additional 2,208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,862 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $13,162,000 after acquiring an additional 870 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com started coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Saturday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,019.62.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,045.83, for a total transaction of $18,824,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 8,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,023,421.24. This trade represents a 67.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,046.03, for a total value of $56,485,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares in the company, valued at $43,845,393.48. This represents a 56.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 108,190 shares of company stock valued at $113,161,681 over the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,042.87 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,004.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $896.26. 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 has a market capitalization of $161.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $742.22 and a 12-month high of $1,068.34.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $10.91 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.18 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.35%.

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.