First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. Has $24.19 Million Stake in BlackRock $BLK

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,057 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. BlackRock makes up 4.8% of First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $24,193,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Garde Capital Inc. increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 200.0% in the second quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 76.5% in the first quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the period. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% in the first quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.43, for a total value of $13,565,933.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 251,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $283,267,354.71. The trade was a 4.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total value of $20,301,321.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 19,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,617,148. This represents a 48.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $1,132.12 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $175.31 billion, a PE ratio of 27.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 4.04. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $773.74 and a fifty-two week high of $1,184.13. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,134.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,034.64.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $10.36 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,224.00 to $1,362.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,252.00 to $1,301.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,258.56.

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.