Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE Acquires 27 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE lifted its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 797 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $627,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Northwest Financial Advisors bought a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BLK. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $910.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Citigroup boosted 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. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $874.07.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total value of $25,008,229.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 383,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $309,327,694.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total value of $25,008,229.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 383,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $309,327,694.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total transaction of $22,529,340.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,407,041.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 112,020 shares of company stock worth $93,595,347 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK traded up $0.43 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $872.49. The company had a trading volume of 395,236 shares, compared to its average volume of 601,810. The business has a 50-day moving average of $818.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $802.34. The company has a quick ratio of 5.32, a current ratio of 5.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $596.18 and a 1 year high of $885.10. The company has a market cap of $129.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.32.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released 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. The company had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $9.28 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid 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 yield of 2.34%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 51.84%.

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.