Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC Acquires 196 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,150 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $6,453,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Welch Group LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.2% in the second quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 760 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $797,000 after buying an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 3.9% in the second quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 266 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Oklahoma grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.5% in the second quarter. Trust Co. of Oklahoma now owns 2,023 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,123,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.3% in the second quarter. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co now owns 799 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $838,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 4.7% in the second quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 223 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $234,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on BLK. BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,160.00 to $1,265.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,224.00 to $1,362.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Argus reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,280.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,263.31.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total value 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. The trade was 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 through this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total value of $19,207,611.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 2.1%

BLK opened at $1,156.20 on Tuesday. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $773.74 and a fifty-two week high of $1,184.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 4.04. The company has a market capitalization of $179.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $1,135.66 and a 200-day moving average of $1,037.02.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $10.36 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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

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.