Woodward Diversified Capital LLC Acquires 475 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

Woodward Diversified Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 81.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,060 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,112,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,764,072 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $13,027,419,000 after acquiring an additional 387,466 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in BlackRock by 73.2% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,313,350 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,243,059,000 after purchasing an additional 555,098 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock by 10.2% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,206,935 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,142,340,000 after purchasing an additional 111,694 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 32.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,131,919 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,071,339,000 after buying an additional 279,336 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of BlackRock by 13.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 932,899 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $882,970,000 after buying an additional 108,473 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 17,142 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,120.50, for a total transaction of $19,207,611.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 61,369 shares in the company, valued at $68,763,964.50. The trade was a 21.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total value of $4,978,539.54. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,936,571.86. The trade was a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 66,494 shares of company stock worth $74,694,573. Insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price target on BlackRock from $1,214.00 to $1,224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,018.00 to $1,093.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Argus reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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 report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,171.93.

BlackRock Trading Down 2.0%

BLK opened at $1,142.33 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $176.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.62, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. BlackRock has a 12 month low of $773.74 and a 12 month high of $1,183.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $1,128.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,024.88.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.41 by $1.64. The firm 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $10.36 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were paid 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 was Friday, September 5th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 50.39%.

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.