BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Shares Purchased by Beacon Financial Advisory LLC

Beacon Financial Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 21.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 239 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $226,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 104,598.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,312,759,000 after acquiring an additional 3,496,740 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,356,357,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 401.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,095,241 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,122,743,000 after acquiring an additional 876,836 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 138,682.5% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $634,000 after acquiring an additional 633,779 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $572,730,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total value of $9,125,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 66,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,256,025. This represents a 13.15% 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. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on BLK shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,035.00 to $1,105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BlackRock to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,102.08.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,049.35 on Friday. BlackRock has a one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,084.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a current ratio of 4.34. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $962.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $969.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.41.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a net margin of 30.09% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The firm had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $9.81 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th were given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.63%.

BlackRock 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.