First Merchants Corp Has $11.50 Million Holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

First Merchants Corp decreased its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 3.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,148 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 382 shares during the quarter. First Merchants Corp's holdings in BlackRock were worth $11,498,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BLK. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Cedar Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The stock was 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 directly owns 66,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $60,256,025. This trade represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BLK shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Bank of America decreased 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. Finally, Argus increased their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,028.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,096.31.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.3%

BLK opened at $1,031.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 4.34 and a quick ratio of 4.34. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $773.74 and a fifty-two week high of $1,084.22. The company's 50 day moving average price is $958.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $969.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.06, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.41.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 30.09%. BlackRock's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.81 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were given a $5.21 dividend. 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 2.02%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.63%.

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.

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