SouthState Corp Increases Holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Key Points

• SouthState Corp increased its position in BlackRock by 54.2% to own 2,124 shares valued at approximately $2.01 million.
• BlackRock has received a series of target price adjustments from analysts, with Jefferies Financial Group raising their target from $959 to $1,210.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.9%, to be paid on September 23rd.

SouthState Corp raised its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 54.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,124 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 747 shares during the period. SouthState Corp's holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,010,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $299,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 35.3% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,201 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,306,000 after buying an additional 1,096 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 33.3% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 64 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 8,673 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $8,891,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $980.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Argus reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,151.21.

BlackRock Trading Down 1.4%

BLK traded down $16.60 during trading on Friday, hitting $1,143.57. The company's stock had a trading volume of 266,224 shares, compared to its average volume of 764,071. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $1,068.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $989.19. 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 has a market cap of $177.17 billion, a PE ratio of 27.65, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.42. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month 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, beating the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. The company 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%. BlackRock's revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $10.36 EPS. On average, analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. BlackRock's payout ratio is 50.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 263,751 shares in the company, valued at $296,002,472.28. This represents a 5.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total value of $19,207,611.00. Following the sale, the director 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. 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.