Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. Buys 416 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) by 15.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,039 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.'s holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,876,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 1,279 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,311,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 368 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $377,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 127 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $130,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its holdings in BlackRock by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 534 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $542,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in BlackRock by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 257 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on BlackRock from $1,046.00 to $988.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,035.00 to $1,105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,082.46.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.5%

BLK stock traded up $4.80 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $990.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 623,159 shares, compared to its average volume of 688,375. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $752.30 and a 12 month high of $1,084.22. The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The business's 50 day moving average price is $924.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $973.80. The company has a market cap of $153.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.41.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.21% and a return on equity of 16.32%. BlackRock's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $9.81 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.63%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total value of $9,125,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 66,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $60,256,025. This trade represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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.