389 Shares in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Acquired by Zions Bancorporation National Association UT

Key Points

• Zions Bancorporation National Association UT has acquired 389 shares of BlackRock valued at approximately $368,000, marking its first investment in the asset manager's stock.
• Over 80% of BlackRock's stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds, with GAMMA Investing LLC significantly increasing its stake by over 104,598.9%.
• BlackRock has declared a quarterly dividend of $5.21 per share, indicative of a 1.9% yield, and will be distributed on September 23rd to investors of record by September 5th.

Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 389 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $368,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BLK. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 104,598.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,312,759,000 after buying an additional 3,496,740 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 401.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,095,241 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,122,743,000 after buying an additional 876,836 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,764,072 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $13,027,419,000 after buying an additional 387,466 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,100,163 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,152,907,000 after buying an additional 329,244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 32.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,131,919 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,071,339,000 after buying an additional 279,336 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE BLK traded up $1.55 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $1,161.58. The company had a trading volume of 344,439 shares, compared to its average volume of 766,375. BlackRock has a one year low of $773.74 and a one year high of $1,171.89. The company has a quick ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $1,064.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $988.28. The stock has a market cap of $179.96 billion, a PE ratio of 28.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.42.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%. BlackRock's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $10.36 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total transaction of $19,207,611.00. Following the sale, the director directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 12,054 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $283,267,354.71. The trade was a 4.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $1,115.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded BlackRock to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $980.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,151.21.

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.