BlackRock $BLK Shares Bought by Pittenger & Anderson Inc.

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 0.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 28,045 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. BlackRock makes up approximately 1.1% of Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $29,426,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BLK. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,615,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 10.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,698 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,500,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the period. Advisor Resource Council acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter valued at $542,000. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 4.2% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 19,171 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $18,145,000 after purchasing an additional 774 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total transaction of $19,207,611.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 61,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,763,964.50. This trade represents a 21.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total value of $4,978,539.54. Following the sale, the director owned 3,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,936,571.86. The trade was a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $1,320.00 target price on BlackRock and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,093.00 to $1,242.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,160.00 to $1,265.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,300.81.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,160.01 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $773.74 and a 1-year high of $1,219.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $179.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,141.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,046.27.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.78 by ($0.23). BlackRock had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 15.36%. The company had revenue of $6.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $11.46 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.59%.

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.