Flaharty Asset Management LLC Purchases New Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

Flaharty Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 48 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $45,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BLK. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 76.5% during the first quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on BLK. Zacks Research cut shares of BlackRock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $959.00 to $1,210.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded BlackRock to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,154.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total value of $19,207,611.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 61,369 shares in the company, valued at $68,763,964.50. This trade represents a 21.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total transaction of $20,301,321.60. Following the sale, the director owned 19,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,617,148. The trade was a 48.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,102.93 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $1,113.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1,004.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 4.04 and a quick ratio of 4.04. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $773.74 and a fifty-two week high of $1,171.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $170.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The business had revenue of $5.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $10.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.39%.

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.