Archford Capital Strategies LLC Acquires Shares of 393 BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Archford Capital Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 393 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $372,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BLK. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,376,606 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $13,712,493,000 after buying an additional 68,405 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,097,524 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,200,450,000 after acquiring an additional 93,844 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 104,598.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,312,759,000 after acquiring an additional 3,496,740 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,006,765 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,072,787,000 after acquiring an additional 190,188 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,390,450 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,450,475,000 after purchasing an additional 26,485 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total transaction of $9,125,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,256,025. The trade was a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,102.08.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock traded up $18.56 on Friday, hitting $1,049.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 799,881 shares, compared to its average volume of 695,037. The company has a market capitalization of $162.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.41. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $773.74 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a current ratio of 4.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $958.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $969.49.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 30.09%. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.81 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were given a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.63%.

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.