Ledyard National Bank Buys 136 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Ledyard National Bank increased its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,108 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the quarter. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,052,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Marino Stram & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.3% during the third quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 3,399 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,227,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 328 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. XML Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.6% during the second quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 473 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $372,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc boosted its stake in BlackRock by 1.3% in the third quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 937 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $890,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 226 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $177,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total value of $10,800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,832,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total transaction of $10,800,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,832,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total value of $24,833,712.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $298,272,703.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 66,042 shares of company stock valued at $56,857,777. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.6 %

BlackRock stock opened at $1,000.53 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $918.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $839.13. 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 stock has a market cap of $148.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.30. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $596.18 and a twelve month high of $1,032.00.

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

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BLK. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Sunday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Argus upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $995.31.

BlackRock Company 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.