NorthRock Partners LLC Grows Stock Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

NorthRock Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 28.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 819 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $683,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 208.3% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 37 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of BLK stock traded up $12.78 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $835.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 74,397 shares, compared to its average volume of 596,861. The stock has a market cap of $124.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.95, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 5.32 and a current ratio of 5.32. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $596.18 and a 52-week high of $845.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $788.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $792.92.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.96 by $0.40. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.26% and a return on equity of 15.24%. The business had revenue of $4.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $9.28 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 51.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on BLK shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. TD Cowen lowered their target price on BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $849.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total transaction of $7,155,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,151,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total transaction of $25,008,229.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 383,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $309,327,694.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total value of $7,155,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,151,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.