Raymond James Trust N.A. Grows Stock Holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,478 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 561 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $20,847,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Northwest Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on BLK shares. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $910.00 to $920.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $912.00 to $937.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $874.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total transaction of $24,833,712.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,718 shares in the company, valued at $298,272,703.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $834.42, for a total value of $22,529,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,407,041.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 29,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $843.25, for a total transaction of $24,833,712.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,272,703.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 81,042 shares of company stock worth $68,587,117. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BlackRock stock traded up $17.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $882.84. 416,346 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 595,632. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $828.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $805.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 5.32 and a quick ratio of 5.32. The company has a market capitalization of $131.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.32. BlackRock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $596.18 and a fifty-two week high of $885.10.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $4.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $9.28 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $5.10 per share. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. BlackRock’s payout ratio is currently 51.84%.

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.