Somerset Trust Co Has $4.88 Million Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Somerset Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 0.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,650 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 13 shares during the quarter. BlackRock comprises 1.6% of Somerset Trust Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Somerset Trust Co’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $4,879,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,764,072 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $13,027,419,000 after purchasing an additional 387,466 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 104,598.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,312,759,000 after purchasing an additional 3,496,740 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 73.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,313,350 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,243,059,000 after purchasing an additional 555,098 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 10.2% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,206,935 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,142,340,000 after purchasing an additional 111,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 32.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,131,919 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,071,339,000 after purchasing an additional 279,336 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,124.34 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $1,115.88 and its 200-day moving average is $1,007.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 4.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.10 billion, a PE ratio of 27.18, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.45. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,171.89.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. The company had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $10.36 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total transaction of $4,978,539.54. Following the sale, the director owned 3,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,936,571.86. This represents a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total value of $20,301,321.60. Following the sale, the director owned 19,205 shares in the company, valued at $21,617,148. The trade was a 48.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on BLK shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Argus reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Zacks Research cut BlackRock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,154.07.

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.