Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Has $1.97 Million Position in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,505 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,972,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BLK. XML Financial LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 473 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $372,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 6.1% during the second quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 226 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $177,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. Forza Wealth Management LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 1.3% during the second quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $822,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its stake in BlackRock by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 311 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the period. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 17.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 89 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total value of $10,800,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,832,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total value of $10,800,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,832,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total transaction of $1,289,224.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,826,802.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 93,042 shares of company stock valued at $79,387,117 over the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Thursday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $1,000.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their price target on BlackRock from $974.00 to $969.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. Citigroup increased their price objective on BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $945.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $902.13.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of BLK opened at $885.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 5.06. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $596.18 and a one year high of $903.46. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $857.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $814.37. The company has a market capitalization of $131.20 billion, a PE ratio of 22.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.30.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.96 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.44% and a net margin of 32.36%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.28 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.34 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is presently 51.84%.

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.