Ignite Planners LLC Purchases 14 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Ignite Planners LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 477 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Ignite Planners LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,764,072 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $13,027,419,000 after acquiring an additional 387,466 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 73.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,313,350 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,243,059,000 after buying an additional 555,098 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 10.2% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,206,935 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,142,340,000 after buying an additional 111,694 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 32.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,131,919 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,071,339,000 after buying an additional 279,336 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 13.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 932,899 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $882,970,000 after buying an additional 108,473 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

BlackRock Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,163.72 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $1,132.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,032.16. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,184.13. The company has a quick ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $180.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.14, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $10.36 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 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 is presently 50.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BLK. Zacks Research cut shares of BlackRock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Wednesday. 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. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,252.00 to $1,301.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,280.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,254.47.

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.