First National Trust Co Acquires 1,726 Shares of BlackRock $BLK

First National Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 17.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 11,755 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,726 shares during the quarter. First National Trust Co’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $12,582,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,062,677 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $15,051,846,000 after purchasing an additional 221,123 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.6% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,841,088 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,146,663,000 after purchasing an additional 10,591 shares during the last quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 12,176.1% during the fourth quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 1,595,153 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,707,356,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582,159 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 4.5% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 913,121 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,064,580,000 after purchasing an additional 39,412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Viking Global Investors LP lifted its position in shares of BlackRock by 217.5% during the third quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 619,492 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $722,247,000 after purchasing an additional 424,388 shares during the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Stephen Cohen sold 225 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,069.56, for a total transaction of $240,651.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,054,779.16. The trade was a 3.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President Robert Kapito sold 8,739 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,056.60, for a total value of $9,233,627.40. Following the sale, the president owned 210,186 shares in the company, valued at $222,082,527.60. The trade was a 3.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 45,249 shares of company stock valued at $47,671,714. Company insiders own 1.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. Barclays lifted their target price on BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,220.00 price objective on shares of BlackRock in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,150.00 to $1,240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,368.00 to $1,393.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,351.00 to $1,199.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,269.06.

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BLK stock opened at $1,073.03 on Friday. BlackRock has a 1-year low of $917.39 and a 1-year high of $1,219.94. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $1,018.09 and its 200 day moving average is $1,054.00. The company has a market cap of $166.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.93, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 4.09 and a quick ratio of 4.09.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $12.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.40 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.56 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 24.40% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The firm’s revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.64 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 52.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $5.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 57.53%.

BlackRock Profile

BlackRock, Inc is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of products and services to institutional, intermediary and individual investors. Its core activities include portfolio management across active and index strategies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) under the iShares brand, fixed income, equity and multi-asset solutions, as well as alternatives such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure. The firm also offers cash management and liquidity solutions and retirement-focused products designed for defined contribution and defined benefit investors.

In addition to traditional investment management, BlackRock is known for its technology and risk management capabilities, most prominently its Aladdin platform, which combines portfolio management, trading and risk analytics and is used both internally and licensed to external clients.