BlackRock $BLK Shares Bought by Sovereign Financial Group Inc.

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 13.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 431 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $452,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC raised 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 valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on BLK. Citigroup upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Zacks Research cut BlackRock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,224.00 to $1,362.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,093.00 to $1,242.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,258.56.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $1,132.12 on Monday. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $773.74 and a 1-year high of $1,184.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 4.04 and a quick ratio of 4.04. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $1,134.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,035.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.31 billion, a PE ratio of 27.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.45.

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

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total transaction of $19,207,611.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 61,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,763,964.50. This trade represents a 21.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.43, for a total value of $13,565,933.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 251,697 shares in the company, valued at $283,267,354.71. This trade represents a 4.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

About BlackRock

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.