Maseco LLP Acquires New Stake in BlackRock $BLK

Maseco LLP acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 265 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $278,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. McLean Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 266 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Oklahoma lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Trust Co. of Oklahoma now owns 2,023 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,123,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Detalus Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC now owns 409 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $387,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 20.4% in the 1st quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 65 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 619 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $650,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.4%

BLK opened at $1,131.86 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $175.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.37, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,171.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $1,121.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,015.69.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The company had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $10.36 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on BLK shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Argus reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Barclays upped their target price on BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $980.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,154.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total transaction of $20,301,321.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 19,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,617,148. This represents a 48.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 263,751 shares in the company, valued at $296,002,472.28. This represents a 5.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.