Middleton & Co. Inc. MA Grows Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA grew its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,030 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 60 shares during the quarter. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $811,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. XML Financial LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 2.6% in the second quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 473 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $372,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 226 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $177,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $822,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its position in BlackRock by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 311 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 17.1% during the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 89 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Trading Up 2.1 %

BlackRock stock opened at $923.31 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $864.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $816.48. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $596.18 and a 52-week high of $930.50. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $137.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.30.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.96 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.44%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $9.28 earnings per share. Analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.34 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.84%.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total value of $10,800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,832,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total value of $24,833,712.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,272,703.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total value of $10,800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,832,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 93,042 shares of company stock worth $79,387,117. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut 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 report on Thursday, July 11th. Citigroup increased their target price on BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Barclays boosted their price target on BlackRock from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Argus increased their price objective on BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $1,000.00 target price for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $902.13.

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.