HB Wealth Management LLC Acquires 1,787 Shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

HB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 27.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,204 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,787 shares during the quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $7,766,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Securian Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $7,331,000. Prudent Man Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at $2,018,000. Arizona State Retirement System bought a new stake in BlackRock during the first quarter worth about $40,868,000. Polar Capital Holdings Plc acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $15,307,000. Finally, Community Financial Services Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 17.2% in the first quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 5,702 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,397,000 after buying an additional 836 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on BLK. Argus reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,214.00 to $1,224.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $1,115.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,151.21.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BLK opened at $1,123.48 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $1,027.64 and a 200-day moving average of $976.73. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $773.74 and a 12-month high of $1,130.66. The stock has a market cap of $174.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.16, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 4.34, a current ratio of 4.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. The company had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.83% and a net margin of 29.68%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $10.36 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 50.39%.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $3,936,571.86. This represents a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.28, for a total value of $16,641,167.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 263,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $296,002,472.28. This represents a 5.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 49,352 shares of company stock worth $55,486,962. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.