Agate Pass Investment Management LLC Purchases 117 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Agate Pass Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 26.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 564 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $470,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its stake in BlackRock by 208.3% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 37 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $930.00 target price (up previously from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $845.42.

Insider Activity at BlackRock

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total value of $7,155,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,151,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total value of $25,008,229.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 383,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $309,327,694.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 9,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $795.00, for a total value of $7,155,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,151,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

BLK traded down $2.67 on Thursday, hitting $784.78. 115,647 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 602,156. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $596.18 and a fifty-two week high of $845.00. The stock has a market cap of $116.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $777.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $792.50. The company has a current ratio of 5.32, a quick ratio of 5.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.42 by $0.39. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.26% and a return on equity of 15.24%. The company had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $7.93 EPS. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.25 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were given a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is 51.84%.

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.