Zhang Financial LLC Acquires 171 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Zhang Financial LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 24.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 883 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $736,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 8.0% in the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,114 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,013,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the period. JNBA Financial Advisors increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 7.7% in the third quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors now owns 822 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $531,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Pictet North America Advisors SA increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 83.1% in the third quarter. Pictet North America Advisors SA now owns 5,558 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,593,000 after acquiring an additional 2,523 shares during the period. Compass Ion Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 19.2% in the third quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC now owns 373 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 15.9% during the third quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 10,493 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,784,000 after buying an additional 1,438 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total value of $7,155,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,151,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Rachel Lord sold 36,059 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $818.06, for a total transaction of $29,498,425.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,910,292.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total transaction of $7,155,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,151,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 76,037 shares of company stock valued at $61,743,127 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BlackRock stock traded down $5.32 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $799.61. 387,869 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 608,595. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a 50 day moving average of $790.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $781.51. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $596.18 and a 12 month high of $845.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 5.32 and a quick ratio of 5.32.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.42 by $0.39. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.26% and a return on equity of 15.24%. The business had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.93 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.25 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 6th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.55%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $930.00 price target (up previously from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $845.42.

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.