Sovran Advisors LLC Increases Position in BlackRock $BLK

Sovran Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 821 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Sovran Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $883,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Securian Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter valued at approximately $7,331,000. Prudent Man Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,018,000. Allianz SE raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.6% during the first quarter. Allianz SE now owns 11,025 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,435,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the first quarter valued at approximately $40,868,000. Finally, Community Financial Services Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 17.2% during the first quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 5,702 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,397,000 after acquiring an additional 836 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total transaction of $4,978,539.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,506 shares in the company, valued at $3,936,571.86. This trade represents a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 18,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.60, for a total value of $20,301,321.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 19,205 shares of the company’s stock, 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 ninety days, insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Barclays upped their price target on BlackRock from $990.00 to $1,220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an “outperform” 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,154.07.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $1,136.98 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $176.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.49, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.45. BlackRock has a fifty-two week low of $773.74 and a fifty-two week high of $1,171.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 4.04. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $1,119.02 and a 200 day moving average of $1,011.55.

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

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $5.21 per share. This represents a $20.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.39%.

About BlackRock

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.