First American Trust FSB Grows Stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

First American Trust FSB grew its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 4.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,960 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 491 shares during the quarter. BlackRock comprises about 1.0% of First American Trust FSB’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. First American Trust FSB’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $11,320,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BLK. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 76.5% in the 1st quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Up 1.0%

BlackRock stock opened at $1,124.20 on Friday. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,131.93. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,054.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $985.34. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $174.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.42.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%. The business had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $10.36 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.28, for a total value of $16,641,167.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 263,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $296,002,472.28. This represents a 5.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total transaction of $4,978,539.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,936,571.86. This represents a 55.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BLK shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $980.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays lifted their price target on BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,214.00 to $1,224.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average 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.