Covenant Asset Management LLC Acquires 46 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Covenant Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 1.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,749 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Covenant Asset Management LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,900,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter worth approximately $115,000. United Bank raised its position in shares of BlackRock by 17.1% in the first quarter. United Bank now owns 1,287 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $983,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in BlackRock by 2.6% during the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,978 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,512,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in BlackRock by 35.4% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,025 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $783,000 after buying an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in BlackRock by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,452 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,110,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. 77.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 20,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $742.04, for a total transaction of $14,989,208.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 464,125 shares in the company, valued at $344,399,315. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 2,079 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $733.82, for a total value of $1,525,611.78. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,520,331.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 20,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $742.04, for a total value of $14,989,208.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 464,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $344,399,315. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on BLK shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $770.00 to $835.00 in a report on Monday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $741.00 to $781.00 in a research report on Monday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on BlackRock from $881.00 to $888.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on BlackRock from $780.00 to $820.00 in a research note on Monday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $780.00 to $770.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $767.69.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of BlackRock stock traded down $6.40 on Tuesday, hitting $688.49. The stock had a trading volume of 52,382 shares, compared to its average volume of 637,198. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $706.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $681.26. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $503.12 and a one year high of $785.65. The company has a quick ratio of 4.21, a current ratio of 4.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $102.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.29, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.29.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 14th. The asset manager reported $9.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.52 by $0.76. BlackRock had a net margin of 29.90% and a return on equity of 14.29%. The firm had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $7.36 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 35.48 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $5.00 per share. This represents a $20.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 7th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 58.41%.

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.