BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Purchased by Independence Bank of Kentucky

Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,323 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,042,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 48.1% during the 4th quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 40 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on BLK shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $910.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Argus lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $874.07.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total transaction of $24,833,712.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,272,703.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,407,041.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total transaction of $24,833,712.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $298,272,703.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 81,042 shares of company stock valued at $68,587,117. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK stock traded up $17.60 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $882.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 416,346 shares, compared to its average volume of 595,632. The company has a current ratio of 5.32, a quick ratio of 5.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $596.18 and a twelve month high of $885.10. The stock has a market cap of $131.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a fifty day moving average of $828.48 and a 200-day moving average of $805.30.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 32.36%. BlackRock’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $9.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.23 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.84%.

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.