UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Purchases 143 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 8,149 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 143 shares during the quarter. BlackRock accounts for about 1.8% of UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $6,416,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the first quarter worth $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Northwest Financial Advisors bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Lam Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth $33,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Citigroup increased 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. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $883.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total transaction of $10,800,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,832,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total value of $10,800,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,832,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 93,042 shares of company stock valued at $79,387,117 in the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $866.92 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $848.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $811.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.06 and a current ratio of 5.06. The stock has a market cap of $128.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.30. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $596.18 and a one year high of $903.46.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.96 by $0.40. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.44% and a net margin of 32.36%. The firm had revenue of $4.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $9.28 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.34 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 51.84%.

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.