First Western Trust Bank Has $3.94 Million Stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

First Western Trust Bank trimmed its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 5.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,158 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 252 shares during the period. First Western Trust Bank’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,936,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Detalus Advisors LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 2.8% in the first quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC now owns 409 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $387,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 20.4% in the first quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 65 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 786 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $806,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.1% in the first quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 579 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 3.0% in the first quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 451 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,124.20 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $174.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,054.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $985.49. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $773.74 and a 1 year high of $1,131.93.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. The business had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $10.36 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 50.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total transaction of $4,978,539.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,506 shares in the company, valued at $3,936,571.86. This represents a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.43, for a total value of $13,565,933.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 251,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $283,267,354.71. The trade was a 4.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Argus reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $980.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays boosted their price target on BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on BlackRock from $1,214.00 to $1,224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,151.21.

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.