Pure Financial Advisors LLC Takes Position in BlackRock $BLK

Pure Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 366 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $384,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Securian Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in BlackRock during the first quarter worth $7,331,000. Prudent Man Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BlackRock during the first quarter worth $2,018,000. Allianz SE increased its holdings in BlackRock by 2.6% during the first quarter. Allianz SE now owns 11,025 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,435,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System acquired a new position in BlackRock during the first quarter worth $40,868,000. Finally, Community Financial Services Group LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 17.2% during the first quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 5,702 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,397,000 after buying an additional 836 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,160.75 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $1,129.67 and a 200-day moving average of $1,027.68. The stock has a market cap of $179.74 billion, a PE ratio of 28.06, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.45. BlackRock has a 52-week low of $773.74 and a 52-week high of $1,183.50. 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 (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. The company had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.40 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 15.53%. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $10.36 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $5.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 50.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on BLK shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $980.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of BlackRock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,224.00 to $1,396.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,213.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total transaction of $20,301,321.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 19,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,617,148. The trade was a 48.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the director directly owned 61,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,763,964.50. The trade was a 21.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

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.