BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Purchased by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 46,834 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 656 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $44,470,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Hawaiian Bank bought a new position in BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth about $200,000. RFG Advisory LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 1,627 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,356,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 874 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $722,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 32.8% during the 1st quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 498 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $415,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Austin Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 13.1% in the first quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 424 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $345,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on BLK shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $995.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. 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. Finally, Argus upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $991.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total value of $10,800,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,832,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total transaction of $10,800,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,832,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total value of $24,833,712.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $298,272,703.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 66,042 shares of company stock worth $56,857,777. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $1,007.02 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $915.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $837.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $596.18 and a fifty-two week high of $1,032.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.30.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.44% and a net margin of 32.36%. The business had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $10.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.73 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.84%.

BlackRock Company 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.