Sabal Trust CO Makes New $26.96 Million Investment in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Sabal Trust CO acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 28,485 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $26,960,000. BlackRock accounts for about 1.5% of Sabal Trust CO’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,956 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,008,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 6,206 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,362,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its stake in BlackRock by 197.8% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 10,446 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,708,000 after purchasing an additional 6,938 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Delta Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Delta Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,833 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,930,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total transaction of $9,125,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 66,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,256,025. The trade was a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Stock Up 1.4%

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,019.43 on Thursday. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $955.81 and a 200-day moving average of $969.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.94 billion, a PE ratio of 24.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.41. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,084.22.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.84 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 30.09%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.81 earnings per share. Analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th were given a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BLK. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of BlackRock to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of 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. Citigroup decreased their price target on BlackRock from $1,200.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,096.31.

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.