Sunflower Bank N.A. Takes $218,000 Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Sunflower Bank N.A. bought a new position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 230 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 35.8% in the first quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,732 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,945,000 after acquiring an additional 1,248 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its stake in BlackRock by 3.9% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 387,202 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $322,810,000 after acquiring an additional 14,477 shares in the last quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at about $6,735,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in BlackRock by 219.5% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 44,065 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $36,737,000 after purchasing an additional 30,274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth $161,918,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK traded up $34.67 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $990.26. The stock had a trading volume of 927,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 576,480. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $899.39 and a 200-day moving average of $831.36. The company has a market capitalization of $147.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.30. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $596.18 and a 12-month high of $996.29.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.44% and a net margin of 32.36%. The company had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $10.91 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 51.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,036.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $945.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $774.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $972.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now owns 5,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total value 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 trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 93,042 shares of company stock valued at $79,387,117 over the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company 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.