Argentarii LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Argentarii LLC grew its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 6.7% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 433 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Argentarii LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $410,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 127 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $130,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 534 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $542,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 257 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC now owns 409 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $387,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 123 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on BLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,111.00 to $1,164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup dropped their target price on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded BlackRock to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,110.92.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total transaction of $9,125,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 66,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,256,025. This trade represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,076.28 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $166.75 billion, a PE ratio of 26.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.41. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $773.74 and a 52-week high of $1,084.22. The business’s fifty day moving average is $979.68 and its 200 day moving average is $969.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a current ratio of 4.34.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 30.09%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $9.81 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.63%.

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.