Captrust Financial Advisors Lowers Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Captrust Financial Advisors trimmed its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 5.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,640 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 417 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in BlackRock were worth $6,305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Marino Stram & Associates LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 0.3% during the third quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 3,399 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,227,000 after buying 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 acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 0.3% during 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 during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in BlackRock by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,979 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,829,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 0.7% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,524 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,447,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $1,020.34 on Tuesday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $742.22 and a 52 week high of $1,068.34. The company has a current ratio of 5.06, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $158.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.18, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $994.93 and a 200-day moving average of $888.81.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the company posted $10.91 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.18 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,105.00 to $1,133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,019.62.

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.