Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc Trims Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc lowered its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 750 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 25 shares during the quarter. Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $590,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Northwest Financial Advisors purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK stock traded up $1.38 during trading on Friday, reaching $856.21. The company had a trading volume of 290,379 shares, compared to its average volume of 607,510. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $810.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $799.81. The company has a market cap of $127.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 5.32 and a current ratio of 5.32. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $596.18 and a twelve month high of $885.10.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.96 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.53%. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.28 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.23 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $924.00 to $912.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $872.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total transaction of $24,833,712.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,272,703.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other BlackRock news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total transaction of $24,833,712.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $298,272,703.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 88,959 shares of company stock worth $73,660,507 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock 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.