Caldwell Trust Co Invests $12.65 Million in BlackRock $BLK

Caldwell Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 12,059 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $12,653,000. BlackRock comprises approximately 1.3% of Caldwell Trust Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC now owns 435 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.4% during the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,492 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,664,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. NWF Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 10.3% during the second quarter. NWF Advisory Services Inc. now owns 814 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $854,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 19.2% during the second quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,702,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its stake in BlackRock by 39.2% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 42,861 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $44,122,000 after acquiring an additional 12,070 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

NYSE BLK opened at $1,088.99 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 3.33 and a quick ratio of 3.33. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $773.74 and a 1-year high of $1,219.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.47. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,092.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,089.13.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $11.78 by ($0.23). The business had revenue of $6.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.22 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 14.80%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $11.46 EPS. Equities analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 53.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Martin Small sold 1,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,043.38, for a total value of $1,312,572.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 6,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,478,346.42. This represents a 16.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total value of $13,980,480.00. Following the sale, the director owned 7,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,394,113.20. The trade was a 62.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BLK. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,362.00 to $1,486.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,280.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,313.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Loop Capital set a $1,255.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,301.00 to $1,407.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,313.65.

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.