Miracle Mile Advisors LLC Trims Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 14.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 494 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 85 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $467,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 5.2% in the first quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 1,250 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,183,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Charter Oak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the first quarter worth $269,000. UMB Bank n.a. bought a new stake in BlackRock in the first quarter worth $34,106,000. Perennial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock in the first quarter worth $248,000. Finally, Orrstown Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in BlackRock in the first quarter worth $291,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $852.01, for a total value of $1,704,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 66,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,261,628.34. This represents a 2.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of BLK stock opened at $992.46 on Wednesday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $752.30 and a 1-year high of $1,084.22. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $927.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $972.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 5.23. The company has a market cap of $153.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 31.21%. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $9.81 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 50.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,035.00 to $1,105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Citigroup lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,082.46.

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.