BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Shares Acquired by Verdence Capital Advisors LLC

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,335 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,051,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 200 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $163,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 24.0% during the first quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 883 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $736,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 237,740 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $192,997,000 after buying an additional 1,647 shares during the period. Farrow Financial Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,228,000. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its position in BlackRock by 35.8% in the 1st quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,732 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,945,000 after acquiring an additional 1,248 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BLK. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on BlackRock from $910.00 to $920.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $874.07.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $883.31 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $131.26 billion, a PE ratio of 22.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 5.32 and a current ratio of 5.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $830.53 and a 200-day moving average of $806.01. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $596.18 and a one year high of $889.00.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.96 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 32.36%. BlackRock’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.84%.

Insider Activity

In other BlackRock news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total transaction of $22,529,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,407,041.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 81,042 shares of company stock worth $68,587,117 over the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

BlackRock 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.