Forza Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK – Free Report) by 18.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,031 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Forza Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $690,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Gyroscope Capital Management Group LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the first quarter valued at about $201,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in BlackRock by 9.9% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 176,254 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $117,935,000 after buying an additional 15,948 shares in the last quarter. Mendel Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 5.0% during the first quarter. Mendel Capital Management LLC now owns 999 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $668,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Kistler Tiffany Companies LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 38.6% during the first quarter. Kistler Tiffany Companies LLC now owns 945 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $632,000 after buying an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, River Street Advisors LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 2.4% during the first quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 1,683 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,126,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 79.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Insider Activity
In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 2,079 shares of the business’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 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 link. In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 20,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $742.04, for a total value 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 approximately $344,399,315. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 2,079 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 18th. The stock was 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 $4,520,331.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
BlackRock Trading Up 1.3 %
BLK stock traded up $9.27 during trading on Friday, hitting $738.34. The company had a trading volume of 522,803 shares, compared to its average volume of 665,613. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $695.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $691.17. The stock has a market cap of $110.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.29, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.27. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $503.12 and a 12 month high of $785.65. The company has a quick ratio of 4.20, a current ratio of 4.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.
BlackRock (NYSE:BLK – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 14th. The asset manager reported $9.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.52 by $0.76. The company had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.47 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.90% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $7.36 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 35.16 earnings per share for the current year.
BlackRock Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $5.00 per share. This represents a $20.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 7th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 58.41%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several equities analysts have weighed in on BLK shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on BlackRock from $741.00 to $781.00 in a report on Monday, July 10th. Citigroup lifted their target price on BlackRock from $750.00 to $815.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 14th. Credit Suisse Group lifted their target price on BlackRock from $662.00 to $673.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $770.00 to $835.00 in a report on Monday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $780.00 to $820.00 in a report on Monday, July 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $767.69.
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.
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