Park Avenue Securities LLC Buys 647 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 647 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $7,539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its position in BlackRock by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,223 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $993,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in BlackRock by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,515 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,042,000 after buying an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 165.4% in the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,958 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,837,000 after acquiring an additional 3,713 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its stake in BlackRock by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,078 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,311,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 42,767 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $34,718,000 after purchasing an additional 944 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK stock traded down $1.12 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $839.84. The company had a trading volume of 718,661 shares, compared to its average volume of 611,107. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $805.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $798.65. The company has a market capitalization of $124.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.32. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $596.18 and a 1 year high of $885.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 5.32 and a quick ratio of 5.32.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.96 by $0.40. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The company had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $9.28 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 51.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. Citigroup upped their price objective 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 stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Argus raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $872.29.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total value of $1,289,224.48. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,826,802.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,151,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 68,509 shares of company stock valued at $55,981,794. 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.