First PREMIER Bank Acquires Shares of 120 BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

First PREMIER Bank bought a new position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 120 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $114,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 35.8% during the 1st quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,732 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,945,000 after purchasing an additional 1,248 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its position in BlackRock by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 387,202 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $322,810,000 after acquiring an additional 14,477 shares during the period. Oak Harvest Investment Services purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $6,735,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in BlackRock by 219.5% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 44,065 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $36,737,000 after acquiring an additional 30,274 shares during the period. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $161,918,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on BlackRock from $774.00 to $864.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,010.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $945.00 to $995.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Argus increased their target price on BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $948.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total value of $22,529,340.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,407,041.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total value of $22,529,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,407,041.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $298,272,703.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 93,042 shares of company stock worth $79,387,117. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.8 %

BlackRock stock opened at $956.61 on Thursday. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $596.18 and a fifty-two week high of $962.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $893.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $828.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $4.81 billion for 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 EPS. Analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were given a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.