Vest Financial LLC Takes $766,000 Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Vest Financial LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 807 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $766,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,182,262 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,990,052,000 after purchasing an additional 292,017 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,354,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,630,127,000 after buying an additional 435,358 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,665,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,310,762,000 after acquiring an additional 46,728 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,197,274 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $942,640,000 after acquiring an additional 22,311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.6% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 685,456 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $539,673,000 after acquiring an additional 17,087 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on BlackRock from $995.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Barclays increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,010.00 to $1,120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $864.00 to $914.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $995.31.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,000.53 on Tuesday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $596.18 and a 52-week high of $1,032.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06. The company 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. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $918.70 and its 200-day moving average is $839.13.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $10.91 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.73 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at $4,826,802.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other BlackRock news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total value of $1,289,224.48. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at $4,826,802.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,832,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 66,042 shares of company stock worth $56,857,777. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.