BlackRock $BLK Stock Holdings Raised by First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 0.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,057 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 177 shares during the quarter. BlackRock accounts for 4.8% of First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $24,193,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,615,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the first quarter valued at approximately $674,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 10.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,698 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,500,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional lifted its position in BlackRock by 6.6% during the first quarter. CX Institutional now owns 471 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $446,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on BLK shares. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,224.00 to $1,396.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,280.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,224.00 to $1,362.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,258.56.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,132.12 on Friday. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,184.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $175.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.37, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,134.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,034.64. 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 (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. The business had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The business’s revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $10.36 EPS. On average, analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total value of $20,301,321.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 19,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,617,148. This trade represents a 48.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.43, for a total transaction of $13,565,933.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 251,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $283,267,354.71. This trade represents a 4.57% 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 worth $74,694,573 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

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.