Raymond James & Associates Grows Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Raymond James & Associates raised its position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 10.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 266,132 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,450 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned 0.18% of BlackRock worth $252,695,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth $38,000. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the second quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 257.9% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 68 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total value of $24,833,712.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $298,272,703.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total transaction of $24,833,712.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $298,272,703.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total value of $1,289,224.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,042 shares of company stock worth $56,857,777. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK traded up $4.52 during trading on Friday, reaching $1,007.02. The stock had a trading volume of 505,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 577,853. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $915.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $837.36. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $596.18 and a 1-year high of $1,032.00.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.44%. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $10.91 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 51.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BLK. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Saturday, October 12th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on BlackRock from $774.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Argus boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $991.46.

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.