246 Shares in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Acquired by Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC

Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 246 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $233,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,615,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 138,682.5% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $634,000 after purchasing an additional 633,779 shares in the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $61,000. Norden Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 652 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $669,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 511 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $524,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total value of $9,125,000.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on BLK shares. UBS Group dropped their target price on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,111.00 to $1,164.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,110.92.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK stock traded up $5.71 on Friday, reaching $1,076.28. The stock had a trading volume of 342,684 shares, compared to its average volume of 694,677. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.41. The firm's 50-day moving average is $976.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $969.46. The company has a quick ratio of 4.34, a current ratio of 4.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $9.81 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio 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.