Sunbelt Securities Inc. Boosts Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 26.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 849 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $708,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on BLK shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $930.00 price objective (up previously from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $845.42.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

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

BlackRock Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE BLK opened at $781.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 5.32 and a quick ratio of 5.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.85, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.34. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $777.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $792.50. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $596.18 and a 12 month high of $845.00.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.42 by $0.39. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.26% and a return on equity of 15.24%. The firm had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $7.93 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.25 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 51.84%.

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.