Merit Financial Group LLC Has $14.81 Million Position in BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Merit Financial Group LLC increased its investment in BlackRock by 8.2%, possessing a total of 14,110 shares valued at approximately $14.81 million.
• BlackRock reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $12.05, outperforming analysts' expectations by $1.64, and achieved a revenue increase of 12.9% compared to the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share, yielding about 1.8% annually, with a payout ratio of 50.39%.

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,110 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 1,064 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in BlackRock were worth $14,805,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 76.5% in 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 during the period. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 100.0% in 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 during the period. Garde Capital Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 200.0% in 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 during the period. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,160.75 on Friday. BlackRock has a one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,183.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $179.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.06, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,129.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,028.18. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The business had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $10.36 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. BlackRock's payout ratio is currently 50.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BLK. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Zacks Research downgraded BlackRock from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,093.00 to $1,242.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,213.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total transaction of $20,301,321.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 19,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,617,148. The trade was a 48.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 251,697 shares of the company's stock, valued at $283,267,354.71. This represents a 4.57% 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. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

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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