Cerity Partners LLC Buys 16,804 Shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

by · The Markets Daily

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK – Free Report) by 13.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 138,207 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,804 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $130,811,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 76.5% in the 1st quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on BLK shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BlackRock to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $980.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America lowered their target price on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on BlackRock from $1,251.00 to $1,032.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,132.29.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on BlackRock

BlackRock Trading Up 1.4%

BlackRock stock opened at $1,103.70 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $993.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $971.28. The company has a current ratio of 4.34, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market capitalization of $170.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.41. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,105.72.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $9.81 earnings per share. BlackRock’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 50.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total value of $9,125,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 66,034 shares in the company, 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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