BlackRock $BLK Shares Purchased by Riverbend Wealth Management LLC

Riverbend Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 5.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 619 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the quarter. Riverbend Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $649,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Garde Capital Inc. increased its position in BlackRock by 200.0% during the 2nd quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 76.5% in the 1st quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter worth about $30,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Trading Down 2.6%

BLK stock opened at $1,171.69 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market cap of $181.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.13, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,140.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1,040.78. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.78 by ($0.23). The firm had revenue of $6.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.22 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 15.36%. BlackRock’s revenue was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $11.46 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total value of $4,978,539.54. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,936,571.86. This trade represents a 55.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total transaction of $20,301,321.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 19,205 shares in the company, valued at $21,617,148. The trade was a 48.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BLK shares. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,310.00 to $1,360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $980.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,300.81.

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.