Tufton Capital Management Invests $267,000 in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Key Points

• Tufton Capital Management has invested approximately $267,000 in BlackRock, acquiring 282 shares during the first quarter.
• BlackRock reported a net margin of 29.68% and a year-over-year revenue growth of 12.9%, with an EPS of $12.05 that exceeded expectations by $1.64.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $5.21, which translates to an annualized dividend of $20.84 and a yield of 1.85%.

Tufton Capital Management bought a new position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 282 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $267,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 76.5% in the 1st quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were 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 approximately $296,002,472.28. The trade was a 5.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total transaction of $4,978,539.54. Following the sale, the director owned 3,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,936,571.86. The trade was a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 49,352 shares of company stock valued at $55,486,962. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

BlackRock Stock Down 0.4%

BLK stock traded down $4.29 during trading on Monday, hitting $1,119.00. 93,384 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 791,278. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,027.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $976.67. The company has a quick ratio of 4.34, a current ratio of 4.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $773.74 and a 1 year high of $1,130.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.05, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.41.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.83%. The business had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $10.36 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $980.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $1,115.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,151.21.

BlackRock Company Profile

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.