Townsquare Capital LLC Acquires 857 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Townsquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,073 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 857 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $7,665,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Marino Stram & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 3,399 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,227,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 328 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,424 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,251,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,979 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,829,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,524 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,447,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $900.00, for a total transaction of $10,800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,832,000. This represents a 64.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

BlackRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLK opened at $1,019.45 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $991.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $885.16. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $725.86 and a 12-month high of $1,068.34. The firm has a market cap of $157.89 billion, a PE ratio of 25.16, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 5.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The asset manager reported $11.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.42 by $1.04. BlackRock had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $10.91 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 43.17 earnings per share for the current year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,040.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $960.00 to $1,077.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,000.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,010.00 to $1,120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,019.62.

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.