Cetera Trust Company N.A Purchases New Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,039 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $2,876,000. BlackRock comprises 1.8% of Cetera Trust Company N.A's portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 309 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 11.7% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,561 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,418,000 after buying an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. City Holding Co. increased its holdings in BlackRock by 35.1% in the 1st quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 77 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA raised its position in BlackRock by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 1,270 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,202,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 23.2% during the 1st quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 420 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $398,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 2,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $852.01, for a total transaction of $1,704,020.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 66,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,261,628.34. This trade represents a 2.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.5%

BlackRock stock opened at $990.26 on Monday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $752.30 and a 12-month high of $1,084.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $925.28 and a 200 day moving average of $972.77. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.81 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,035.00 to $1,105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group cut their price objective on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Barclays increased their target price on BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,082.46.

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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