Strong Tower Advisory Services Purchases 670 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Strong Tower Advisory Services lifted its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 25.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,273 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 670 shares during the period. Strong Tower Advisory Services' holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,098,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth about $506,000. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 42.8% in the 4th quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 444 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $455,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 780 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $770,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,145 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,249,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE:BLK traded up $4.32 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $988.08. The company had a trading volume of 149,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 834,624. The company has a quick ratio of 5.23, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market cap of $153.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $923.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $974.25. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $752.29 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $9.81 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,035.00 to $1,105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,082.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 66,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at $60,256,025. The trade was a 13.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

BlackRock 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.