Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC Grows Stock Position in BlackRock $BLK

Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,354 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,420,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 76.5% in the 1st quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. increased its holdings in BlackRock by 200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $1,160.75 on Friday. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $773.74 and a 1-year high of $1,183.50. The stock has a market cap of $179.74 billion, a PE ratio of 28.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 4.04 and a quick ratio of 4.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $1,129.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,027.68.

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

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director directly owned 3,506 shares in the company, valued at $3,936,571.86. The trade was a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total transaction of $20,301,321.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 19,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,617,148. This trade represents a 48.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573 over the last ninety days. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on BLK. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,280.00 price target for the company. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of BlackRock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,213.67.

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.