Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Buys 4,216 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 4.4%, owning 100,483 shares valued at approximately $105.4 million as of its recent SEC filing.
• BlackRock reported earnings of $12.05 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations and marking a 12.9% revenue increase year-over-year.
• The firm declared a quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 1.8% with a payout ratio of 50.39%.

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 4.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 100,483 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 4,216 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned about 0.06% of BlackRock worth $105,432,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in BlackRock by 73.2% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,313,350 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,243,059,000 after purchasing an additional 555,098 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,764,072 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $13,027,419,000 after acquiring an additional 387,466 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 32.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,131,919 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,071,339,000 after acquiring an additional 279,336 shares in the last quarter. Unisphere Establishment grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 29.2% in the first quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 839,500 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $794,570,000 after acquiring an additional 189,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 58.8% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 381,447 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $361,032,000 after acquiring an additional 141,258 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BlackRock Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,173.98 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $181.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.45. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $1,126.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,023.07. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $773.74 and a 1 year high of $1,182.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 4.04 and a quick ratio of 4.04.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $10.36 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total value of $4,978,539.54. Following the sale, the director owned 3,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,936,571.86. This trade represents a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.43, for a total value of $13,565,933.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 251,697 shares in the company, valued at $283,267,354.71. This trade represents a 4.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Bank of America upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,214.00 to $1,224.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $1,115.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,171.93.

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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