Burford Brothers Inc. Has $823,000 Stake in BlackRock $BLK

Burford Brothers Inc. trimmed its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 785 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 16 shares during the quarter. Burford Brothers Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $823,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Securian Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth $7,331,000. Prudent Man Advisors LLC bought a new position in BlackRock in the first quarter worth $2,018,000. Allianz SE lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Allianz SE now owns 11,025 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,435,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System bought a new position in BlackRock during the first quarter worth about $40,868,000. Finally, Community Financial Services Group LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 5,702 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,397,000 after buying an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,161.63 on Friday. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $773.74 and a 1 year high of $1,219.94. The company has a current ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $1,140.85 and its 200-day moving average is $1,042.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $179.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.87, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $11.78 by ($0.23). The firm had revenue of $6.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.22 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.36% and a net margin of 26.64%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $11.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total value of $20,301,321.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 19,205 shares in the company, valued at $21,617,148. This represents a 48.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of BlackRock 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 sale, the director directly owned 61,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,763,964.50. This represents a 21.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on BLK shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,215.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,394.00 to $1,456.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,300.81.

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.