SouthState Corp Buys 747 Shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

SouthState Corp raised its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 54.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,124 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 747 shares during the quarter. SouthState Corp’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,010,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Detalus Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 2.8% in the first quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC now owns 409 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $387,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 20.4% in the first quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 65 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 786 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $806,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.1% in the first quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 579 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $548,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 3.0% in the first quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 451 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Argus reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Bank of America raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,214.00 to $1,224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,151.21.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $1,124.20 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 4.04 and a quick ratio of 4.04. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $773.74 and a 1-year high of $1,131.93. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,054.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $985.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.17 billion, a PE ratio of 27.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.42.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%. The business had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $10.36 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 50.39%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total value of $19,207,611.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 61,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,763,964.50. The trade was a 21.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.43, for a total value of $13,565,933.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 251,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $283,267,354.71. This trade represents a 4.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.