Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,765 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 626 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $27,371,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. XML Financial LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.6% in the second quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 473 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 6.1% in the second quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 226 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $177,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.3% in the second quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $822,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 4.4% in the second 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 grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 17.1% in the second 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total transaction of $10,800,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,832,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total transaction of $10,800,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,832,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at $4,826,802.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 93,042 shares of company stock valued at $79,387,117. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $934.61 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $138.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $596.18 and a 1-year high of $942.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $866.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $817.30.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.96 by $0.40. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.44%. The company had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price 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. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $945.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.