Wealthfront Advisers LLC Grows Stock Position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 10.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,844 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 1,697 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $16,889,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Cedar Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK stock traded up $24.66 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $1,106.90. The company had a trading volume of 1,175,589 shares, compared to its average volume of 702,413. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 4.34 and a quick ratio of 4.34. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $1,006.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $972.22. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $773.74 and a 52-week high of $1,117.19. The company has a market capitalization of $171.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.41.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. The business had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.83%. The business's revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $10.36 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were given a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total transaction of $9,125,000.00. Following the sale, the director 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on BLK. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,151.21.

BlackRock Company 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.