PDS Planning Inc Purchases 81 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

PDS Planning Inc raised its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 944 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 81 shares during the quarter. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $990,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 23.1% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $674,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,698 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,500,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. CX Institutional now owns 471 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $446,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Stock Down 3.0%

BlackRock stock opened at $1,132.12 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $773.74 and a 12-month high of $1,184.13. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $1,134.85 and its 200 day moving average is $1,034.64. The company has a market capitalization of $175.31 billion, a PE ratio of 27.37, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.45.

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

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the company’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 owned 3,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,936,571.86. This represents a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total transaction of $19,207,611.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 61,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,763,964.50. The trade was a 21.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,252.00 to $1,301.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Argus reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,224.00 to $1,362.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,160.00 to $1,265.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,258.56.

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.