Realta Investment Advisors Buys New Position in BlackRock $BLK

Realta Investment Advisors purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $238,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in BlackRock by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,764,072 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $13,027,419,000 after purchasing an additional 387,466 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in BlackRock by 73.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,313,350 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,243,059,000 after purchasing an additional 555,098 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 10.2% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,206,935 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,142,340,000 after buying an additional 111,694 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 32.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,131,919 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,071,339,000 after buying an additional 279,336 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 13.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 932,899 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $882,970,000 after buying an additional 108,473 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,224.00 to $1,396.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,213.67.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $1,160.75 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $773.74 and a 52-week high of $1,183.50. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,129.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1,028.70. The company has a market capitalization of $179.75 billion, a PE ratio of 28.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. 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 business posted $10.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.43, for a total value of $13,565,933.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 251,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $283,267,354.71. This represents a 4.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of BlackRock 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 owned 19,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,617,148. The trade was a 48.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573 in the last three months. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company 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.