Chicago Capital LLC Acquires Shares of 677 BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Chicago Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 677 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $641,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $852.01, for a total transaction of $1,704,020.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,261,628.34. This trade represents a 2.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $968.90 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $942.61 and its 200 day moving average is $971.07. The company has a market capitalization of $150.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.54, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.41. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The company has a quick ratio of 4.34, a current ratio of 4.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 30.09%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $9.81 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on BLK. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,035.00 to $1,105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded BlackRock to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,096.31.

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.