BlackRock $BLK Shares Purchased by Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 1.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,683 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $4,914,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 73.2% during 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 during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 2.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,764,072 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $13,027,419,000 after purchasing an additional 387,466 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in BlackRock by 32.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,131,919 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,071,339,000 after buying an additional 279,336 shares in the last quarter. Unisphere Establishment increased its stake in BlackRock by 29.2% during the 1st quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 839,500 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $794,570,000 after buying an additional 189,500 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 58.8% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 381,447 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $361,032,000 after buying an additional 141,258 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,093.00 to $1,242.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,280.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,213.67.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.0%

BlackRock stock opened at $1,160.75 on Friday. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,183.50. The company has a quick ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $179.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.45. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,129.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,027.68.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $10.36 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 50.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.28, for a total transaction of $16,641,167.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 263,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $296,002,472.28. This trade represents a 5.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total transaction of $4,978,539.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,936,571.86. The trade was a 55.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock 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.