Webster Bank N. A. Sells 163 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Webster Bank N. A. lowered its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 13,721 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 163 shares during the period. BlackRock makes up approximately 1.2% of Webster Bank N. A.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Webster Bank N. A.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $9,483,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 20,892 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $14,439,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares in the last quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company increased its position in BlackRock by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 2,288 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,581,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Keel Point LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 497 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Covenant Asset Management LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Covenant Asset Management LLC now owns 2,749 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,900,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sciencast Management LP acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter valued at about $476,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 2,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $733.82, for a total transaction of $1,525,611.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,520,331.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 2,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $733.82, for a total value of $1,525,611.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,520,331.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 20,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $742.04, for a total transaction of $14,989,208.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 464,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $344,399,315. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.06% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE BLK traded down $5.19 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $689.70. 165,996 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 637,930. The company’s 50-day moving average is $706.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $681.26. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $503.12 and a one year high of $785.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 4.21 and a current ratio of 4.21. The company has a market capitalization of $102.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.29.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 14th. The asset manager reported $9.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.52 by $0.76. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.29% and a net margin of 29.90%. The business had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $7.36 EPS. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 35.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $5.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 7th. This represents a $20.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.90%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on BLK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $780.00 to $785.00 in a research report on Monday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $741.00 to $781.00 in a research report on Monday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $770.00 to $835.00 in a research report on Monday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of BlackRock from $780.00 to $770.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $767.69.

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.