First City Capital Management Inc. Buys 22 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

First City Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 7.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 315 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. First City Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $298,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in BlackRock by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,376,606 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $13,712,493,000 after purchasing an additional 68,405 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,097,524 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,200,450,000 after acquiring an additional 93,844 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 104,598.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,496,740 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,006,765 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,072,787,000 after acquiring an additional 190,188 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,390,450 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,450,475,000 after acquiring an additional 26,485 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total value of $9,125,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 66,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,256,025. The trade was a 13.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $990.26 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $752.30 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22. The company has a market capitalization of $153.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. The business’s 50-day moving average is $925.28 and its 200-day moving average is $973.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $9.81 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 50.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded BlackRock to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,035.00 to $1,105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,082.46.

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.