Richmond Investment Services LLC Buys New Stake in BlackRock $BLK

Richmond Investment Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 211 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. raised its holdings in BlackRock by 200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Traub Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 107.1% in the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 29 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,041.18 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $1,111.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,080.58. The company has a current ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market cap of $161.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.48. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $11.78 by ($0.23). The business had revenue of $6.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.22 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 15.36%. The firm’s revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $11.46 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 53.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday. Zacks Research downgraded shares of BlackRock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,093.00 to $1,242.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,302.59.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total transaction of $13,980,480.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,394,113.20. This trade represents a 62.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate 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.