Claro Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Claro Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 138.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,687 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 979 shares during the quarter. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,407,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 208.3% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 37 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $930.00 price objective (up from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $845.42.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:BLK traded down $5.05 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $782.27. The company had a trading volume of 543,443 shares, compared to its average volume of 605,527. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $596.18 and a 1 year high of $845.00. The company has a market cap of $116.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a 50-day moving average of $779.33 and a 200 day moving average of $793.03. The company has a current ratio of 5.32, a quick ratio of 5.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.42 by $0.39. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.24% and a net margin of 32.26%. The firm had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $7.93 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.25 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.61%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total transaction of $25,008,229.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 383,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $309,327,694.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total transaction of $25,008,229.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 383,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $309,327,694.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total value of $7,155,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,151,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.