AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC Acquires 2,030 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 503.7%, acquiring an additional 2,030 shares, bringing its total to 2,433 shares valued at approximately $2.55 million.
• BlackRock reported earnings of $11.55 per share for the recent quarter, missing estimates by $0.23, but saw a significant year-over-year revenue increase of 25.2% to $6.51 billion.
• The firm declared a quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share, reflecting an annualized payout of $20.84 with a dividend yield of 1.8%.

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 503.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,433 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 2,030 shares during the period. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,553,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 76.5% in the 1st quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 100.0% during the 1st 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. grew its holdings in BlackRock by 200.0% during the 2nd 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 position in BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $1,171.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 4.04. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $1,140.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,040.78. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $773.74 and a 52-week high of $1,219.94. The company has a market cap of $181.44 billion, a PE ratio of 30.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $11.78 by ($0.23). BlackRock had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 15.36%. The business had revenue of $6.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $11.46 earnings per share. BlackRock's revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other BlackRock news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total value of $4,978,539.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 $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. In the last three months, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on BLK shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,163.00 to $1,312.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,160.00 to $1,265.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,093.00 to $1,242.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of BlackRock from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,300.81.

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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