Crestwood Advisors Group LLC Grows Stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 82.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,852 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 835 shares during the quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,753,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 20.8% in the first quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 645 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $618,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Kingsman Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth about $367,000. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 20.4% during the 1st quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 65 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Investors Management Corp grew its holdings in BlackRock by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Heritage Investors Management Corp now owns 39,406 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $37,297,000 after acquiring an additional 1,844 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its holdings in BlackRock by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 11,238 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $10,637,000 after acquiring an additional 908 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total transaction of $9,125,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 66,034 shares in the company, valued at $60,256,025. This trade represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Argus reissued a "buy" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,151.21.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $1,094.13 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a current ratio of 4.34. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,119.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.45, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.41. The stock's fifty day moving average is $1,013.56 and its 200 day moving average is $972.65.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.83% and a net margin of 29.68%. BlackRock's revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $10.36 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th were issued 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 1.90%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.