Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD Buys Shares of 131 BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 131 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $103,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in BlackRock by 2.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,182,262 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,990,052,000 after purchasing an additional 292,017 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,354,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,630,127,000 after buying an additional 435,358 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its stake in BlackRock by 57.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,514,999 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,853,517,000 after buying an additional 1,279,952 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in BlackRock by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,471,621 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,006,490,000 after acquiring an additional 58,681 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,015,337 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,636,052,000 after purchasing an additional 47,128 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,832,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total value of $24,833,712.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,272,703.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,832,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 93,042 shares of company stock worth $79,387,117 over the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Citigroup raised their price objective on BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $920.00 to $945.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $902.13.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $885.73 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $857.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $814.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $131.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $596.18 and a 12-month high of $903.46.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.96 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $4.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.44%. BlackRock’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $9.28 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.