Smart Portfolios LLC Grows Stock Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Smart Portfolios LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 3.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 857 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Smart Portfolios LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $899,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,615,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 10.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,698 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,500,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 5.2% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 35,049 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $33,172,000 after buying an additional 1,740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter valued at about $2,107,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 3.3%

NYSE BLK opened at $1,193.23 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 4.04 and a quick ratio of 4.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.77 billion, a PE ratio of 28.85, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.45. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $773.74 and a 1 year high of $1,209.82. The business’s 50-day moving average is $1,137.33 and its 200 day moving average is $1,038.10.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $6.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.22 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $11.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 50.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,224.00 to $1,396.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on BlackRock from $1,160.00 to $1,265.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Zacks Research cut BlackRock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $1,320.00 target price on BlackRock in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,264.56.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of BlackRock 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 sale, the director directly owned 19,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,617,148. The trade was a 48.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.43, for a total value of $13,565,933.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 251,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $283,267,354.71. The trade was a 4.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. Insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

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.