Clearbridge Investments LLC Has $53.41 Million Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 0.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 64,066 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 191 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $53,412,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BLK shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $910.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. TD Cowen dropped their price target on BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $872.29.

BlackRock Trading Down 2.0 %

BLK stock traded down $17.04 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $827.65. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 660,303 shares, compared to its average volume of 607,472. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $794.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $794.72. The stock has a market cap of $122.99 billion, a PE ratio of 21.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.32. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $596.18 and a 52 week high of $851.88. 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 (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.96 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 32.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $9.28 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.23 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.46%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.84%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total transaction of $22,529,340.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,407,041.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $309,327,694.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total transaction of $22,529,340.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,407,041.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,978 shares of company stock valued at $54,692,570. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.