Argent Trust Co Acquires 415 Shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Key Points

• Argent Trust Co increased its stake in BlackRock by 2.8%, owning 15,308 shares valued at approximately $14.49 million following the acquisition of 415 additional shares.
• BlackRock reported earnings per share of $12.05 for the recent quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate of $10.41, alongside a revenue of $5.42 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share, offering a yield of 1.9% and indicating a 50.39% dividend payout ratio.

Argent Trust Co boosted its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 2.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,308 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co's holdings in BlackRock were worth $14,489,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 76.5% in the first quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on BLK. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Barclays boosted their target price on BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Argus reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $980.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,151.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total transaction of $4,978,539.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,936,571.86. The trade was a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.28, for a total value of $16,641,167.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 263,751 shares of the company's stock, valued at $296,002,472.28. The trade was a 5.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573 over the last three months. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded down $11.91 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $1,104.16. The stock had a trading volume of 144,307 shares, compared to its average volume of 778,081. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,130.66. The company has a market capitalization of $171.06 billion, a PE ratio of 26.73, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.42. The firm's fifty day moving average is $1,043.68 and its 200 day moving average is $982.13. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.83% and a net margin of 29.68%. The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $10.36 EPS. The business's revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. BlackRock's payout ratio is presently 50.39%.

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.