Ascent Group LLC Has $620,000 Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Ascent Group LLC increased its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 36.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 787 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 209 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $620,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in BlackRock by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,182,262 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,990,052,000 after purchasing an additional 292,017 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in BlackRock by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,354,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,630,127,000 after purchasing an additional 435,358 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in BlackRock by 57.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,514,999 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,853,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279,952 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in BlackRock by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,471,621 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,006,490,000 after purchasing an additional 58,681 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,015,337 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,636,052,000 after purchasing an additional 47,128 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on BlackRock from $920.00 to $945.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $1,000.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $902.13.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:BLK opened at $949.50 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 5.06, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.10 billion, a PE ratio of 24.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $881.47 and its 200 day moving average is $822.72. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $596.18 and a 12 month high of $952.75.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.96 by $0.40. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.44%. The company had revenue of $4.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $9.28 EPS. BlackRock’s revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.37 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 51.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total transaction of $22,529,340.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,407,041.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total transaction of $22,529,340.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,407,041.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total transaction of $24,833,712.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $298,272,703.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 93,042 shares of company stock valued at $79,387,117 in the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.