BlackRock $BLK Shares Purchased by Quattro Financial Advisors LLC

Quattro Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 121.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,231 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 676 shares during the quarter. Quattro Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,292,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Garde Capital Inc. boosted its position in BlackRock by 200.0% during the second quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 76.5% during the first quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 100.0% during the first quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the first quarter worth about $30,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,093.00 to $1,242.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,224.00 to $1,396.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,194.86.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total transaction of $19,207,611.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total transaction of $4,978,539.54. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.7%

NYSE BLK opened at $1,160.23 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $179.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $1,128.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $1,026.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 4.04 and a quick ratio of 4.04. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,183.50.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $10.36 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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

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.