Wedbush Securities Inc. Boosts Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 5.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,215 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,531,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. XML Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.6% during the second quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 473 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in BlackRock by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 226 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $177,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $822,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 4.4% during the second quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 311 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $243,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 17.1% during the second quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 89 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on BLK shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $945.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Barclays increased their target price on BlackRock from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Argus boosted their price target on BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $883.47.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

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

BlackRock Price Performance

NYSE:BLK opened at $877.94 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $850.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $812.37. The firm has a market cap of $130.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.30. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $596.18 and a 1-year high of $903.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.96 by $0.40. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.44%. The firm had revenue of $4.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $9.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.