MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. Sells 26 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,131 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 26 shares during the period. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,073,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, COO Robert L. Goldstein sold 54,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 41,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,845,393.48. This trade represents a 56.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,045.83, for a total transaction of $18,824,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 8,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,023,421.24. This represents a 67.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 108,190 shares of company stock valued at $113,161,681 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BLK. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,120.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. 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 research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,027.31.

BlackRock Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,058.57 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $163.95 billion, a PE ratio of 26.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.28. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $744.32 and a twelve month 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $1,006.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $898.79.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. The company had revenue of $5.20 billion for 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%. BlackRock’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $10.91 EPS. Analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.18 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 50.35%.

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.