BlackRock $BLK Shares Bought by Berger Financial Group Inc

Berger Financial Group Inc lifted its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 343 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 20 shares during the quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $359,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 14.1% in the second quarter. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC now owns 777 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $816,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 20.3% during the 2nd quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. now owns 1,243 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,305,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Talbot Financial LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $14,975,000. Clarius Group LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 834 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $875,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Hill Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 1.4% during the second quarter. Oak Hill Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,091 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,173,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total value of $19,207,611.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 61,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,763,964.50. This represents a 21.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 ownership of the stock. 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. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $1,179.86 on Tuesday. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $773.74 and a 1 year high of $1,184.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 4.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $1,130.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,030.30. The company has a market cap of $182.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.53, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company 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 quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $10.36 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BLK. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,163.00 to $1,312.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup lifted 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. Argus reissued a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. One investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,222.87.

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.