Brighton Jones LLC Increases Stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 3.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,416 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in BlackRock by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,182,262 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,990,052,000 after acquiring an additional 292,017 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,354,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,630,127,000 after purchasing an additional 435,358 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 57.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,514,999 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,853,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279,952 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,471,621 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,006,490,000 after purchasing an additional 58,681 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,015,337 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,636,052,000 after buying an additional 47,128 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

BlackRock Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE BLK opened at $928.79 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $596.18 and a 52 week high of $942.73. 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 capitalization of $138.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $868.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $817.96.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.96 by $0.40. The company 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $9.28 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.34 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. Morgan Stanley lowered 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 note on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $1,000.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $945.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Barclays raised 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently 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.