JT Stratford LLC Buys Shares of 245 BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

JT Stratford LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 245 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $1,812,920,000. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 57.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,514,999 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,853,517,000 after acquiring an additional 1,279,952 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,918,878 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,181,346,000 after acquiring an additional 749,654 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 77,524.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 641,955 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,211,390,000 after acquiring an additional 641,128 shares during the period. Finally, Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 24,171.5% in the first quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 416,014 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $346,831,000 after purchasing an additional 414,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 2.4 %

NYSE BLK traded up $19.66 during trading on Friday, reaching $856.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 555,814 shares, compared to its average volume of 593,194. The company has a current ratio of 5.32, a quick ratio of 5.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $127.23 billion, a PE ratio of 21.76, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.32. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $596.18 and a 1-year high of $857.65. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $795.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $795.64.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.96 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $4.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.28 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is 51.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 383,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $309,327,694.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,407,041.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 66,978 shares of company stock valued at $54,692,570. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BLK shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $910.00 to $920.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $872.29.

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.