Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Buys 347 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in BlackRock by 127.6% during the second quarter, acquiring an additional 347 shares to hold a total of 619 shares worth approximately $649,000.
• Institutional investors collectively own 80.69% of BlackRock's stock, reflecting continued strong interest from larger investment entities.
• In recent analyst evaluations, Barclays raised BlackRock's price target from $990.00 to $1,220.00 while maintaining an "overweight" rating on the stock.

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 127.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 619 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in BlackRock were worth $649,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 76.5% during the 1st quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. increased its stake in BlackRock by 200.0% during the 2nd quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on BLK shares. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $980.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of BlackRock from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,154.07.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In related news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total value of $4,978,539.54. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,936,571.86. The trade was a 55.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.28, for a total transaction of $16,641,167.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 263,751 shares in the company, valued at $296,002,472.28. This trade represents a 5.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK opened at $1,157.69 on Friday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $1,124.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,019.76. 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 company has a market capitalization of $179.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.45. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $773.74 and a 1 year high of $1,171.89.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. The company had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $10.36 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were issued 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 of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. BlackRock's 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.

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