Vest Financial LLC Purchases 1,162 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Vest Financial LLC increased its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 2.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,118 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,162 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $46,291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BLK. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 76.5% in the first quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the period. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 100.0% during the first quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. lifted its position in BlackRock by 200.0% during the second quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of BLK opened at $1,132.12 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 4.04. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $773.74 and a fifty-two week high of $1,184.13. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $1,134.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,035.56. The firm has a market cap of $175.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.37, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.45.

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

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 50.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on BLK. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Citigroup lifted their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,258.56.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total transaction of $4,978,539.54. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,936,571.86. The trade was a 55.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total transaction of $19,207,611.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 61,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,763,964.50. The trade was a 21.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

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.