PDS Planning Inc Increases Stock Holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

PDS Planning Inc increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 7.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 863 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 60 shares during the quarter. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $816,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in BlackRock by 104,598.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,500,083 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,312,759,000 after purchasing an additional 3,496,740 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $2,356,357,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 401.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,095,241 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,122,743,000 after acquiring an additional 876,836 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 138,682.5% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 634,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $634,000 after acquiring an additional 633,779 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth about $572,730,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total transaction of $9,125,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 66,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,256,025. This trade represents a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BLK shares. UBS Group decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,028.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of BlackRock to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,275.00 to $1,124.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on BlackRock from $1,035.00 to $1,105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,096.31.

BlackRock Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $1,019.43 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a current ratio of 4.34. BlackRock has a 1 year low of $773.74 and a 1 year high of $1,084.22. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $955.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $969.60. The firm has a market cap of $157.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.77, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.41.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 30.09%. The company had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $9.81 EPS. BlackRock’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.63%.

BlackRock Company 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.