Legacy Advisory Services LLC Invests $602,000 in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Legacy Advisory Services LLC purchased 636 shares of BlackRock, valued at approximately $602,000, making it the firm's 20th largest holding.
• Several institutional investors, including Brighton Jones LLC and Janus Henderson Group PLC, have recently increased their stakes in BlackRock, indicating strong interest in the asset manager.
• BlackRock announced a quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share, with an annual yield of 1.9%, scheduled for payment on September 23rd.

Legacy Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 636 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $602,000. BlackRock makes up 0.5% of Legacy Advisory Services LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,615,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its holdings in BlackRock by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $216,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 27,841 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $28,561,000 after buying an additional 4,079 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded down $9.84 during trading on Friday, reaching $1,124.34. The company had a trading volume of 544,785 shares, compared to its average volume of 732,409. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $773.74 and a fifty-two week high of $1,171.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 4.04 and a quick ratio of 4.04. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $1,114.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $1,005.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. The firm 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 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $10.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock's payout ratio is currently 50.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BLK. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $980.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Argus restated a "buy" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,154.07.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total value of $19,207,611.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 61,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $68,763,964.50. The trade was a 21.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total transaction of $4,978,539.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,506 shares in the company, valued at $3,936,571.86. This represents a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.