First Pacific Financial Raises Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

First Pacific Financial increased its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,234 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the quarter. First Pacific Financial’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,171,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in BlackRock by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,354,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,630,127,000 after acquiring an additional 435,358 shares during the last quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in BlackRock by 24,171.5% in the 1st quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 416,014 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $346,831,000 after acquiring an additional 414,300 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in BlackRock by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,182,262 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,990,052,000 after acquiring an additional 292,017 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new stake in BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth $161,918,000. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its holdings in BlackRock by 174.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 184,291 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $145,096,000 after acquiring an additional 117,218 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $774.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $991.46.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the business’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 directly owns 5,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,826,802.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the business’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 sale, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 11,061 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $852.95, for a total transaction of $9,434,479.95. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,527,116. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,042 shares of company stock valued at $56,857,777 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Up 1.5 %

BlackRock stock traded up $15.28 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $1,007.00. The stock had a trading volume of 618,744 shares, compared to its average volume of 577,834. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.30. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $596.18 and a 12-month high of $1,016.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $902.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $832.46.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.44%. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $10.91 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 51.84%.

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.