Evoke Wealth LLC Acquires 681 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Evoke Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 84.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,491 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 681 shares during the quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,596,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Birchbrook Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 866.7% during the third quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 29 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the third quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,083.05, for a total value of $2,166,100.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 61,980 shares in the company, valued at $67,127,439. The trade was a 3.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen Cohen sold 225 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,069.56, for a total value of $240,651.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,661 shares in the company, valued at $6,054,779.16. This trade represents a 3.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 45,249 shares of company stock worth $47,671,714 over the last ninety days. 1.92% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK opened at $1,073.03 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $1,018.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,054.00. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $917.39 and a 1 year high of $1,219.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 4.09 and a quick ratio of 4.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.57 billion, a PE ratio of 26.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.44.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.40 by $0.13. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 24.40%.The company had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.64 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 52.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $5.73 dividend. This represents a $22.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 57.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on BLK. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,181.00 to $1,313.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,220.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,235.00 to $1,270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Barclays lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,368.00 to $1,393.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,269.06.

BlackRock Profile

BlackRock, Inc is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of products and services to institutional, intermediary and individual investors. Its core activities include portfolio management across active and index strategies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) under the iShares brand, fixed income, equity and multi-asset solutions, as well as alternatives such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure. The firm also offers cash management and liquidity solutions and retirement-focused products designed for defined contribution and defined benefit investors.

In addition to traditional investment management, BlackRock is known for its technology and risk management capabilities, most prominently its Aladdin platform, which combines portfolio management, trading and risk analytics and is used both internally and licensed to external clients.