Precedent Wealth Partners LLC Raises Position in BlackRock $BLK

Precedent Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 11.8% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,946 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,042,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in BlackRock by 73.2% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,313,350 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,243,059,000 after purchasing an additional 555,098 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in BlackRock by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,764,072 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $13,027,419,000 after purchasing an additional 387,466 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in BlackRock by 32.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,131,919 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,071,339,000 after acquiring an additional 279,336 shares during the last quarter. Unisphere Establishment grew its holdings in BlackRock by 29.2% in the 1st quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 839,500 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $794,570,000 after acquiring an additional 189,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in BlackRock by 58.8% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 381,447 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $361,032,000 after acquiring an additional 141,258 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of BLK opened at $1,160.75 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $1,129.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,027.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $179.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.06, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $773.74 and a 1-year high of $1,183.50.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The business had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $10.36 earnings per share. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,163.00 to $1,312.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,280.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,224.00 to $1,396.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,213.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were 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 owned 251,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $283,267,354.71. The trade was a 4.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total transaction of $19,207,611.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 61,369 shares in the company, valued at $68,763,964.50. The trade was a 21.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573. 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.