Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. Has $3.96 Million Position in BlackRock $BLK

Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 7.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,290 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 289 shares during the quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $3,962,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its position 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 buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE BLK opened at $1,104.21 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 4.04. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $773.74 and a 52-week high of $1,171.89. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $1,112.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1,003.20. The stock has a market cap of $170.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $10.36 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.39%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total value of $4,978,539.54. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,936,571.86. This represents a 55.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 19,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,617,148. This represents a 48.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. Company insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,214.00 to $1,224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BlackRock to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Zacks Research cut shares of BlackRock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,180.00 to $1,170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,154.07.

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.