Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC Raises Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 3.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 691 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $576,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

BlackRock Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of BlackRock stock traded up $6.86 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $789.13. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 367,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 603,636. The firm has a market capitalization of $117.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.02, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.32. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $779.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $792.86. The company has a quick ratio of 5.32, a current ratio of 5.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $596.18 and a 1-year high of $845.00.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.42 by $0.39. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.24% and a net margin of 32.26%. The business had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $7.93 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.25 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were given a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.84%.

Insider Activity

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $915.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $844.17.

BlackRock Company 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.