Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Boosts Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 46,178 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 1,517 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $36,357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC now owns 4,483 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,530,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the period. NBT Bank N A NY grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 12.3% in the 2nd quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 2,661 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,095,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the period. IFG Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 2,969 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,338,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 14,156 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,145,000 after buying an additional 542 shares during the period. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,259 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,353,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total value of $1,289,224.48. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total transaction of $24,833,712.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 353,718 shares in the company, valued at $298,272,703.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 93,042 shares of company stock worth $79,387,117. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $901.81 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $596.18 and a 52-week high of $903.46. The company’s 50 day moving average is $839.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $808.74. The firm has a market cap of $133.59 billion, a PE ratio of 22.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $4.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.28 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 51.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BLK shares. 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 research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Barclays started coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $985.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $881.47.

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.