Apollon Wealth Management LLC Grows Stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 47.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,153 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 5,168 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $15,289,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 12.1% in the 1st quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,166 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $5,836,000 after buying an additional 668 shares during the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 1.5% during the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 15,650 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $14,812,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp lifted its position in BlackRock by 4.3% during the first quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 1,273 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,204,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 4.4% in the first quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 870 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $823,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the first quarter worth about $10,128,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company'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 sale, the director directly owned 66,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at $60,256,025. This represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $980.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $1,164.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Argus reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,132.29.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of BLK opened at $1,102.63 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $170.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.41. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $773.74 and a 1 year high of $1,105.72. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $996.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $970.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 4.34 and a quick ratio of 4.34.

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

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. 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.

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